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8 questions to answer before buying IT for ACOs<\/h2>
Execs need to make process and strategy decisions before turning attention to technology purchases.<\/p>

Success starts with engagement<\/h2>
Many healthcare organizations are anticipating the shift to value-based care and are ramping up plans to form an accountable care organization. While information technology is crucial, it\u2019s not the place to start, contends Gregg Malkary, founder of Spyglass Consulting. In fact, it may jeopardize success\u2014if an organization does not have a robust patient and provider engagement plan for the ACO, no amount of IT will matter.Earlier this year, Spyglass surveyed more than 100 hospital professionals, asking them to identify clinical process gaps in engaging patients and families within the care process. Here are crucial questions to answer before IT decisions are made.<\/p>

1. What specifically is the engagement strategy?<\/h2>
One-quarter of survey respondents admitted that they had no patient digital engagement strategy, Malkary notes. Typically, respondents admitted that they don\u2019t understand engagement, and no one in the organization knows what to do, so they lack the personnel and expertise to move forward.<\/p>

2. Which strategy can everyone use?<\/h2>
Some hospitals struggle with multiple patient engagement strategies and technologies\u2014every department has been buying its own engagement tools, and each strategy is separate from the others. What can help to reboot and build a digital experience strategy is to include the initiative in the organization\u2019s mission statement, Malkary advises. \u201cIt\u2019s culture, people, processes and tools\u2014note that tools are the last step. You don\u2019t throw technology out in the environment until you know what you\u2019re trying to solve.\u201d<\/p>

3. Is engagement a key priority?<\/h2>
A core finding from survey interviews was that no one would commit to having all the answers and demonstrating a robust patient and family engagement program, Malkary notes. The reason why emerging ACOs have experienced little success in engagement is because engagement isn\u2019t yet a priority for them.<\/p>

4. How does education mesh with patient engagement?<\/h2>
Patient portals offering health information, education and access to medical records were mandated under the EHR Meaningful Use Program, and hospitals tried to respond by offering educational content to improve patient satisfaction over their internal television networks. They found that TV was used only for entertainment, in part because patients couldn\u2019t figure out how to use the educational features, so education hasn\u2019t been a priority.<\/p>

5. How will portals be marketed and taught to patients? <\/h2>
Too often, nurses don\u2019t talk to patients about the value of a patient portal, and while they may explain the basics of how to sign up for the portal, they typically don\u2019t provide any specific training for getting patients to use the portals, the Spyglass survey found. As a result, when patients are discharged, neither they nor their family members know how to use the portal, Malkary says.<\/p>

6. How will education be taught to patients?<\/h2>
Hospitals typically have little documentation that a patient was prescribed educational content, viewed it and reviewed findings with a nurse. Nurses already are overwhelmed, Malkary acknowledges; they have no time to educate patients on the technology they can use to stay engaged, so education is not coordinated within their clinical workflow. Doctors are focused on the brief minutes they have to talk to patients, and are aware of being scored on performance and volume, so there\u2019s no time to educate.<\/p>

7. To whom will initial efforts be targeted?<\/h2>
Malkary suggests that providers focus for 12 to 18 months on patients with chronic conditions, because these are the individuals accounting for much of the care delivered, and these patients can support digital engagement, he adds. \u201cThe low-hanging fruit is chronic care and congestive heart failure.\u201d<\/p>

8. What\u2019s the strategy to coalesce portal strategies?<\/h2>
Still, barriers remain and continue to confound patients, Malkary bemoans. \u201cI\u2019m in the hospital signed up for a portal. Now, I\u2019m in the community and have another portal, and my cardiologist has a different portal.\u201d What\u2019s needed is portal technology that provides a longitudinal patient record with consistent content supporting acute care and ambulatory environments, as well as bringing ancillary providers into the fold. \u201cThis requires clinicians to actually be engaged,\u201d he says.<\/p>

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8 questions to answer before buying IT for ACOs<\/h2>
Execs need to make process and strategy decisions before turning attention to technology purchases.<\/p>

Success starts with engagement<\/h2>
Many healthcare organizations are anticipating the shift to value-based care and are ramping up plans to form an accountable care organization. While information technology is crucial, it\u2019s not the place to start, contends Gregg Malkary, founder of Spyglass Consulting. In fact, it may jeopardize success\u2014if an organization does not have a robust patient and provider engagement plan for the ACO, no amount of IT will matter.Earlier this year, Spyglass surveyed more than 100 hospital professionals, asking them to identify clinical process gaps in engaging patients and families within the care process. Here are crucial questions to answer before IT decisions are made.<\/p>

1. What specifically is the engagement strategy?<\/h2>
One-quarter of survey respondents admitted that they had no patient digital engagement strategy, Malkary notes. Typically, respondents admitted that they don\u2019t understand engagement, and no one in the organization knows what to do, so they lack the personnel and expertise to move forward.<\/p>

2. Which strategy can everyone use?<\/h2>
Some hospitals struggle with multiple patient engagement strategies and technologies\u2014every department has been buying its own engagement tools, and each strategy is separate from the others. What can help to reboot and build a digital experience strategy is to include the initiative in the organization\u2019s mission statement, Malkary advises. \u201cIt\u2019s culture, people, processes and tools\u2014note that tools are the last step. You don\u2019t throw technology out in the environment until you know what you\u2019re trying to solve.\u201d<\/p>

3. Is engagement a key priority?<\/h2>
A core finding from survey interviews was that no one would commit to having all the answers and demonstrating a robust patient and family engagement program, Malkary notes. The reason why emerging ACOs have experienced little success in engagement is because engagement isn\u2019t yet a priority for them.<\/p>

4. How does education mesh with patient engagement?<\/h2>
Patient portals offering health information, education and access to medical records were mandated under the EHR Meaningful Use Program, and hospitals tried to respond by offering educational content to improve patient satisfaction over their internal television networks. They found that TV was used only for entertainment, in part because patients couldn\u2019t figure out how to use the educational features, so education hasn\u2019t been a priority.<\/p>

5. How will portals be marketed and taught to patients? <\/h2>
Too often, nurses don\u2019t talk to patients about the value of a patient portal, and while they may explain the basics of how to sign up for the portal, they typically don\u2019t provide any specific training for getting patients to use the portals, the Spyglass survey found. As a result, when patients are discharged, neither they nor their family members know how to use the portal, Malkary says.<\/p>

6. How will education be taught to patients?<\/h2>
Hospitals typically have little documentation that a patient was prescribed educational content, viewed it and reviewed findings with a nurse. Nurses already are overwhelmed, Malkary acknowledges; they have no time to educate patients on the technology they can use to stay engaged, so education is not coordinated within their clinical workflow. Doctors are focused on the brief minutes they have to talk to patients, and are aware of being scored on performance and volume, so there\u2019s no time to educate.<\/p>

7. To whom will initial efforts be targeted?<\/h2>
Malkary suggests that providers focus for 12 to 18 months on patients with chronic conditions, because these are the individuals accounting for much of the care delivered, and these patients can support digital engagement, he adds. \u201cThe low-hanging fruit is chronic care and congestive heart failure.\u201d<\/p>

8. What\u2019s the strategy to coalesce portal strategies?<\/h2>
Still, barriers remain and continue to confound patients, Malkary bemoans. \u201cI\u2019m in the hospital signed up for a portal. Now, I\u2019m in the community and have another portal, and my cardiologist has a different portal.\u201d What\u2019s needed is portal technology that provides a longitudinal patient record with consistent content supporting acute care and ambulatory environments, as well as bringing ancillary providers into the fold. \u201cThis requires clinicians to actually be engaged,\u201d he says.<\/p>

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8 questions to answer before buying IT for ACOs<\/h2>Execs need to make process and strategy decisions before turning attention to technology purchases.<\/p>

8 questions to answer before buying IT for ACOs<\/h2>Execs need to make process and strategy decisions before turning attention to technology purchases.<\/p>

8 questions to answer before buying IT for ACOs<\/h2>
Execs need to make process and strategy decisions before turning attention to technology purchases.<\/p>

8 questions to answer before buying IT for ACOs<\/h2>
Execs need to make process and strategy decisions before turning attention to technology purchases.<\/p>

8 questions to answer before buying IT for ACOs

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