Future of Healthcare Technology

A Mediaplanet Guide to Tech Shaping the Future of Medicine and Dentistry

Future of Healthcare Technology

Dr. Bertalan Meskó, Ph.D. The director of The Medical Futurist Institute shares why the future is now for technology in healthcare

Why the COVID-19 pandemic could mean the end of doctors’ waiting rooms How routine dental visits help detect serious health problems earlier

SEPTEMBER 2021 | FUTUREOFPERSONALHEALTH.COM

An Independent Supplement by Mediaplanet to USA Today

Avoiding the Telehealth “Cliff” to Maintain Access to Convenient, Quality Care Last year at this time, telehealth became a household word. From March to June of 2020, 30 percent of all outpatient care was delivered via telehealth, in contrast to 0.8 percent in 2019.

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he virtual visit became a universally understood concept, and by all accounts, patients loved it: 83 percent reported overall high-quality visits, and over 75 percent said they would continue using telehealth to manage chronic diseases, including hypertension and diabetes.

Today, as telehealth becomes a standard tool in care delivery, healthcare providers are striking an appropriate balance of in-person and virtual care, and we expect telehealth to account for 20-30 percent of care delivery moving forward.

The telehealth cliff However, there is much @MEDIAPLANETUSA

uncertainty around the future of telehealth, as temporary policies enacted during the pandemic to allow access to telehealth will immediately end when the federal public health emergency expires, which could be any day now.

This is creating chaos and concern for patients and healthcare providers alike, as this “telehealth cliff” threatens to abruptly cut off access to care, especially for underserved and rural populations, and Medicare beneficiaries.

One of our biggest priorities must be to ensure passage of federal policies and state laws that support the permanent, widespread adoption of telehealth.

Adding to this urgency @FUTUREOFPERSONALHEALTH

Ann Mond Johnson Chief Executive Officer, and Joseph C. Kvedar, M.D., Chair of the Board, American Telemedicine Association

is that the challenges our healthcare system faced before COVID are still with us and continue to escalate, including striking healthcare disparities and inequities, an aging and increasingly ill population, and an inadequate supply of providers to meet demand in the same manner we have in the past — face-to-face and one-to-one care. Making telehealth a permanent option will address many of these problems as we’ve witnessed over the past 15 months.

Enacting change We must make our voices heard. Urge your elected representatives to pave a regulatory path that enables per-

manent access to telehealth, and tell your employers and insurance providers that you want the option to receive appropriate care via telehealth services. In September, during Telehealth Awareness Week, take the opportunity to join thousands of others to support telehealth as a quality care choice for your families and all Americans.

Many of us have seen the significant contributions telehealth has made in our national response to COVID19. Now is the time to permanently expand access to these services for the millions of people in the United States who need a safe, effective, and convenient option to access their care.

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PLEASE RECYCLE

Publisher Neetu Wadhwani, Victoria Borkowsk Business Developer Abe Freedberg Managing Director Luciana Olson Lead Designer Tiffany Pryor Designer Keziah Makoundou Lead Editor Mina Fanous Copy Editor Dustin Brennan Director of Content & Production Jordan Hernandez Cover Photo András Zoltai (for Dr. Bertalan Meskó) All photos are credited to Getty Images unless otherwise specified. This section was created by Mediaplanet and did not involve USA Today.

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Are Artificial Intelligence and Healthcare a Guaranteed Partnership?

For hospitals, the “AI revolution” has barely begun. AAMI Committee experts explain why that is and whether a future for AI in healthcare is guaranteed.

You’re out hiking when you feel a sharp, near-icy pain in the back of your left calf; it’s a bite from a snake coiled less

than a foot away. You snap a picture of the snake with your smartphone and upload the photo to an app, which uses an algorithm to produce the result: “Dangerous. Seek help.”

Minutes later, help arrives with the high-pitched whir of a drone. Its cargo is a small box with bold, red lettering: “Antivenom.”

This scenario remains something of a pipe dream, for now, says Pat Baird, regulatory head of global software standards at Philips. But the technologies that can make it happen are already very real.

“It’s a little off the beaten path from the typical diagnostic imaging kind of use case that people talk about,” Baird

said, “but wow, wouldn’t that be so cool?”

AI’s future in healthcare So, what about applying this amazing technology towards saving lives?

“You know, there are only a handful of FDA-approved devices that use AI,” said AAMI AI committee co-chair Jesse Ehrenfeld, M.D., M.P.H. “The first was for detection of diabetic retinopathy, which is a really important problem.”

Ehrenfeld (immediate past chair of the American Medical Association Board of Trustees and a professor of anesthesiology at the Medical College of Wisconsin) explains that one of the strongest benefits of the technology is not that AI-based devices will replace clinicians. It is, rather, that they augment the capabilities and scale of medical staff. In areas where manpower is

lacking, such as patient monitoring and data analysis, AI can compensate.

Trust issue However, some clinicians are hesitant to accept these new technologies. After all, the consequences of an AI causing a mistake in a medical setting are far greater than a digital assistant misunderstanding a request to turn on the lights.

Personally, Ehrenfeld is eager to make AI trustworthy enough to introduce into his own day job, earning more meaningful face time with his patients.

“I actually think AI is going to help us re-humanize healthcare. It’s making it so caregivers have more time to give care,” he said. “To me, that’s the payoff of this technology.”

Brian Stallard, Media Relations Manager, AAMI

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Did you ever wonder what would happen if your local hospital or trusted physician went out of business because they failed fınancially? Did you even know that was possible? Unfortunately, it’s a stark reality we must face in today’s complex healthcare environment.

5 Ways Healthcare Providers Can Stay Financially Fit

According to an article published by the Healthcare Financial Management Association, between March 1 and June 30, 2020, healthcare providers lost a staggering $202 billion. Why? In part because their revenue cycle — the process of collecting out-of-pocket costs at check-in, correctly charging for services, filing claims, and receiving reimbursements from payers (primarily insurance companies) — is fraught with administrative waste and error.

The good news? Many of these costly mistakes can be prevented with the right dose of technology and data — a “prescription” that can restore the financial health of providers and sustain their well-being.

Here are five tips for achieving and maintaining a healthy revenue cycle: 1. Give patients accurate estimates before they receive care In healthcare, making prices transparent is the law because patients should be able to shop around for their care, much like they would any other purchase. But many providers lag behind in meeting this requirement, leaving patients in the dark.

To make pricing accessible, providers should use technology that creates estimates that are at least 90 percent accurate

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and can be generated online at the patient’s convenience.

Patients who know what to expect are more likely to pay upfront for services, preventing providers from incurring costly collections processes and bad debt.

2. Charge correctly for patient care That sounds easy, but it’s quite complex. Prices and industry regulations are constantly changing, making it difficult to stay current. Providers need a central source of truth, a

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cloud-based technology platform called a charge description master that provides benchmark pricing for hundreds of thousands of supplies, medications, and services. And they need auditing technology to make sure they capture every charge they are owed.

These tools ensure pricing is consistent and compliant with regulations.

3. Get fast, accurate reimbursements For this to happen, providers need to: 1. file accurate, com-

plete and properly formatted claims, 2. continuously scrutinize contracts they have with payors, and 3. efficiently collect what is owed. The right technology takes care of it all.

Claims management tools can deliver a “claims acceptance rate” of nearly 99 percent. Contract management tools accurately forecast, calculate, and capture the total revenue owed from complex contracts. Collections management tools analyze a provider’s accounts receivable workflow, determine

the causes of delays, correct errors, and collect payments.

4. Leverage data and “bots” to improve effıciency Providers are typically blind to the meaning of all the datasets in their various billing systems. Data analytics tools integrate and map this data into one holistic view, giving providers more insights into their operations, identifying performance improvement opportunities, and informing their decision-making. In addition, providers can use software robots (bots) to perform repetitive, manual tasks, freeing up staff to focus on high-value work and increasing productivity.

5. Tap into knowledge sources to stay current With all the complexity and change, providers need a cloud-based platform that continually delivers updated coding, billing and regulatory information to reduce waste and errors throughout the revenue cycle. To maintain and grow staff expertise, they should consider offering employees an online revenue cycle education program that includes certifications and cross-training to increase engagement and retention, as well as online and easily accessible billing and coding references.

With the financial health of our hospitals and physician practices so critical to maintaining the health of our nation, providers would be wise to get an end-to-end revenue cycle check-up and follow the recommendations of healthcare technology experts.

Hemant Goel, CEO, nThrive, on behalf of HIMSS

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The advancement of digital technology into every aspect of our lives has been accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Everything from how we work and socialize to the way we consume goods and services has been altered by technology.

One of the most exciting areas where digital technology is creating a virtual revolution is in the healthcare sector.

As consumers have become increasingly comfortable with the concept of accessing health and wellness services remotely, virtual care has been attracting far greater attention from Wall Street investors to tech entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley. While there has been steady growth in the popularity of remote medical visits and the use of personal mobile health apps and devices in recent years, studies show that the industry is poised to accelerate even more rapidly. According to one estimate, this industry which generated approximately $175 billion in 2019 will increase to as much as $660 billion in 2025.

In the last 18 months many brickand-mortar healthcare providers have shifted their services online out of

necessity. Now that it is widely accepted to be suitable for many types of diagnoses and treatment, many providers will continue to supplement in-person visits with remote care, where appropriate.

As a result of this shift, consumers now accept, and even expect, that much of their care will be provided remotely as the new normal. This proliferation in demand presents huge opportunity for the digital health sector but doesn’t come without its risks. As insurers, it’s important that our clients understand the potential risks to their businesses. To support them properly, it’s vital that we have a clear view of their business model and risk appetite; we want to know what’s worrying or hindering them and where we might be able to help.

Virtual care spotlight To gain greater insights into how digital health and wellness professionals are responding to the new post-pandemic reality, we commissioned a survey of hundreds of industry leaders across the globe.

Our research found: • Eighty-nine percent surveyed in the United States expect their businesses to grow in 2021

• Thirty-three percent expect to secure that growth through the development of new products and services • Almost 9 out of 10 (89%) are seeking investment to drive further growth — this was considerably higher in the United States than in other territories surveyed (62% globally) While their appetite for growth has not wavered in the recent climate, their understanding of the potential limitations of that growth is less straightforward. Having a clear and holistic view of their risk profile is critical to the success of these organizations. How they manage risk can impact all aspects of their business from securing investment to developing new products. If not properly managed, opportunities for growth could be impeded or, worse, they could prove to be catastrophic to the business.

The business risks to digital health providers are wide ranging. They span from typical medical malpractice that health providers know, through to increased cyber and data protection risk that technology introduces. Further,

PHOTO: BEAZLEY

Rapid Changes in Risk for Digital Health Providers there is regulatory risk, which increases as more services are provided across borders and into jurisdictions with often very different rules governing the provision of remote healthcare.

In such a vibrant, essential sector with boundless opportunity to innovate and support society in these difficult times, having a clear view of how to manage new and emerging risk exposures holistically is vital for digital health professionals. Working with specialist insurance and risk management experts, who demonstrate deep understanding of the sector and its risks, can help alleviate concerns and enable the healthcare workers to focus on what matters most: patient health and well-being.

Kyle Laudadio, Miscellaneous Medical & Life Sciences Underwriter, Beazley

To learn more about how Beazley can help you assess risk, visit beazley. com/usa.html.

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aiting frustrates patients.

What’s less obvious is that long wait times also frustrate doctors.

Until now, we as doctors have been powerless to change the inevitability of the paradigm.

We’ve always met patients in our offices to deliver care, a system that requires organizing a schedule and providing a space for patients to wait.

Our staff schedules the appointments without knowing how long a particular patient will need on any given day. Often a patient is scheduled for 10 minutes, but they need 20 or 30.

And then there is the daily “unexpected.” A mass is found during a routine annual visit.

A patient scheduled for a quick blood pressure check complains of acute chest pain.

The hospital calls to gather information about a patient

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Is the Dreaded Doctor’s Waiting Room Finally Going Away?

The doctor’s waiting room: We all know it. We’ve all been there. Just thinking about it dredges up negative associations: boredom, annoyance, and even anger.

being admitted, and so on.

We know overcrowded waiting rooms and frustrated patients damage our reputations and lead to lost business. We watch our online rankings plummet; five stars for knowledge and

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bedside manner, one star for wait times. And we see our patients opt for minute clinics and urgent care just to avoid our dreaded waiting rooms. But for years we’ve lacked real solutions to fix this problem.

Telemedicine One silver lining to the COVID19 pandemic was the rapid shift to virtual care and the removal of government regulated barriers to delivering this care. As we move beyond the pandemic, we know one thing for certain:

Both virtual care and in-office care are here to stay.

The healthcare community now realizes that it is imperative to rethink the traditional waiting room. Patients coming in to be seen in person will no longer tolerate crowding into

a room with other sick patients for extended waits, and patients being seen virtually will expect a virtual wait to pair with their virtual visit.

Leveraging tech The pandemic also helped

introduce technology solutions that address the waiting room problem. These solutions range from mobile registration platforms for patients to fill out paperwork online, to texting platforms for patients and staff to communicate

before patients arrive, to true virtual waiting rooms that predict schedule delays and send automated notifications to patients in real time.

For healthcare organizations contemplating such solutions, selecting a usable

platform is as important as selecting one that is robust and meets system needs.

A platform that is easy for patients to interact with and can be easily accessed by staff will drive ready adoption.

Designing a simple-to-

use platform is often a complicated endeavor, so when selecting a platform, it’s helpful to understand whose input went into the product design. A product designed with input from daily users — physicians, nurses, practice administrators, or office staff, will have a tremendous advantage over one designed solely by engineers who have never observed office workflow firsthand.

A technology-driven waiting room is a win-win for all stakeholders. Physicians and healthcare organizations are rewarded with efficiency gains, better online reviews, and reductions in burnout from a more seamless workflow. And patients feel empowered because they’re kept informed and their time is respected.

Dr. Jennifer Meller, Internist, Founder, Navimize, on behalf of HIMSS SPONSORED

How a Trusted Relationship Drives Benefits Utilization There’s a clear link between employee health, reduced healthcare costs, and increased productivity. Navigating the healthcare space is a challenge and health plan members lack convenient and cost-effective access to a trusted resource for decision-making. Although most employer health plans offer value-based health services, many struggle to achieve impactful engagement..

A 2021 survey reports that people trust their providers

most when they believe what the patient says, spend adequate time with them, and express they care about them.

“Trust is the primary driver of all of our healthcare decisions.

The first step in earning that trust is giving people a simple access point to someone that really cares,” notes James Story, CEO and co-founder of Wellview, a leading population care company.

Wellview’s engagement model uses their technology application as a conduit to build a trusted relationship

with a health advisor trained in positive psychology and motivational interviewing (MI). “The advisor creates a relationship beyond the technology platform,” Story notes. “Through conversation, we develop and strengthen trust and identify what we call ‘opportunities to serve.’”

Delivering a high-value care experience is another critical step in establishing trust. Wellview’s technology analyzes the intersection of clinical risk, actuarial value, member interest, and

psychographic profiling to determine optimal care pathways. Advisors use this insight to hyper-personalize every interaction and close gaps in care by navigating the member to a coordinated team of specialist providers, like mental health experts, dietitians, and diabetes educators.

For Story, it’s all about meaningful engagement.

“Technology can identify emerging health-related problems. But how do you create actions associated with

that identification? Our job is to build great tools to empower connection and action with people. Creating the right mix of technology and human encounters to more meaningfully engage people is what we’re all about.”

Marisa Wright, Lead Advisor, Marketing, Wellview

Learn more about Wellview’s approach to population care at wellviewhealth.com

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MedSign is proud to introduce Qortex®, the No. 1 senior-approved Telehealth solution that integrates the home television with its communication technology to virtually connect millions of previously unreachable, underserved elderly Americans, giving them equal access to medical professionals, family and friends, and products and services without the need of a computer or smartphone.

While telehealth is a crowded fıeld due to competing delivery models, Qortex is a scalable, patient-centric solution that offers a distinct advantage that separates it from the competition. Qortex is the fırst and only universally intuitive, TV-based communication platform that delivers telehealth connectivity and a variety of services through the television.

Its platform brings the hospital into the home, connecting all demographics — especially the elderly and disabled, many of whom are technology averse. Qortex enables telehealth services through the technology they know best — their own TV — all in the comfort of home.

Qortex’s novel approach to senior connectivity signifıcantly improves access to care, effıciency, and clinical outcomes for millions of older adults who are receiving home healthcare or have diffıculty traveling to offıce visits for chronic care management. The ubiquitous availability and simplicity of the Qortex system transcends traditional socioeconomic barriers and has the potential to not only lower the thresholds for accessing care, but to also truly increase productivity for clinical professionals.

Any customer-approved person (medical professional, family, or friend) can access the Qortex network using their own computer or smartphone. No other system in the market space can assert or claim such accessibility, ease of use, and interoperability.

MedSign

For more information, visit www.medsign.com

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The Medical Futurist Weighs in on the Future of Healthcare Dr. Bertalan Meskó, Ph.D., is the director of The Medical Futurist Institute, which studies how sci-fı technologies can become a reality in medicine and healthcare. He explained why patient-fırst technologies must be a driving force in the future of healthcare tech.

Over the past year, where have you seen technology make the biggest impact in terms of the way patients access care?

Any technology that supports at-home care. The pandemic has led to an incredibly quick technological adoption worldwide.

Physicians and patients had to learn to use telemedical services in the span of weeks in 2020, otherwise they wouldn’t have been able to receive or provide care. If we can put the cultural transformation healthcare needs now next to this skyrocketed technological adoption, we might save a decade’s worth of progress in digital health.

What technology should healthcare providers be prioritizing today?

It’s certainly not one or two technologies healthcare providers should be prioritizing today.

Instead, they should embrace two approaches: patient design and digital health. Patient design means you involve patients on the highest level of decision-making in the organization, meaning you only design physical facilities, treatment processes, and guidelines or even products with them.

Embracing digital health means healthcare providers acknowledge the cultural part of healthcare’s transformation. One example clearly shows what it means in practice. If you focus on a given technology, such as virtual reality, and give devices to patients staying at the hospital for longer times expecting that they would feel less pain by virtually swimming in the ocean or visiting other countries, you won’t succeed. But if the caregivers of patients take part

PHOTO: ANDRÁS ZOLTAI FOR DR. BERTALAN MESKÓ

MedSign’s breakthrough TV-based technology means quality healthcare and equal access for everyone, without needing a computer, smartphone, or tablet.

in the process, acting as coaches to discuss the expectations, the technology, and the whole experience, researchers have been able to prove that patients’ pain scores get significantly lower.

What will healthcare look like in the next fıve years?

Patients will be empowered, easily and routinely reaching out to technologies, information, peer support, and second opinions. Digital health technologies will make them the point of care, meaning they will be able to receive care wherever they are through the technologies they and their caregivers use.

We will see fewer interfaces in the doctor-patient meetings allowing two people to have a meaningful conversation while being surrounded by invisible, seamless technologies. Medical professionals will closely work with automation, especially artificial narrow intelligence, to remove the repetitive components of their job.

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Maintaining a Positive Mindset Daily At SureCo, we fırmly believe in the power of a positive mindset. Our team meetings, managers, and co-workers help encourage and uplift us daily. Keeping a positive outlook can help lead to a happier, healthier lifestyle.

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hile it can be difficult to keep an upbeat mindset, attempting to see the positive in situations can greatly increase overall happiness.

Our employees are grateful for their co-workers who consistently encourage and support one another.

Here some tips that will help you keep a positive mindset: Focus on the good things. Even if this is just one part of a situation, it is a great reminder to think about a positive piece.

Next, practice positive self-talk.

Lifting yourself up each day can help increase overall happiness. Additionally, complimenting and uplifting those around you will improve everyone’s mood.

Finally, surround yourself with people who appreciate and brighten your day. This will help remove negative thoughts and actions.

Benefıts of positivity Improving your mindset and outlook will positively impact your overall health and wellness, too. One of the key benefits is improved stress management; with a positive mindset,

you’ll find yourself more relaxed and motivated to take on each day.

Positive thoughts and actions will also improve your mental health, and can help you live longer. You’ll also have the energy to take on every day and succeed. This extra energy can help you focus on your tasks and enjoy each moment.

At SureCo, we believe in the power of business-to-business support. If you have any advice or tips for how to maintain a positive mindset, contact us!

As 2021 continues, we are looking to hire more positive, motivated, and driven individuals. If you are

interested in joining our mission to innovate and transform the healthcare industry, routinely check our job opportunities. You can find our current openings on our Paylocity site or our LinkedIn. Apply today!

SureCo is continuing to expand and grow its healthcare offerings; to learn more, browse the rest of our website. You can continue to follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn to learn more about SureCo, our employees, and the healthcare industry.

SureCo

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5

Reasons to Continue Advocating for Telehealth

So many Americans had their fırst telehealth experience during the COVID-19 pandemic, and for many reasons, I think telehealth is here to stay.

Patients have discovered its benefits, and as we say at the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA), “the genie is out of the bottle.”

While some medical appointments are better suited for in-office visits, telehealth offers numerous benefits.

Here are five: 1. Reaching the underserved People who live in areas far from medical providers can now meet with one

without traveling. And telehealth is beneficial for people who don’t drive or don’t have easy access to transportation.

2. Providers are familiar with telehealth Many doctors, nurses, and other healthcare professionals have lots of experience with telehealth, and patients are often surprised how similar a telehealth visit is to an in-person appointment.

3. Reducing exposure At this point, we’re all familiar with the importance of avoiding exposure to viruses. During cold and flu season, or any time of the year, there are obvious

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benefits of having fewer people in a provider’s waiting room and office.

4. Remote monitoring Telehealth makes it easier for providers to monitor patients with chronic conditions and it limits the number of times those patients must travel to the doctor’s office.

5. Making appointments easier Life happens and things come up; I’m sure most of us have had to cancel a medical appointment at the last minute. Only needing to pick up a phone or open your laptop makes it easier to meet with a provider, which reduces cancelations and benefits our healthcare system as a whole.

I’m proud AHIMA recently released a policy statement that says we support “the use of public policy and other tools to expand access to care, reduce costs, and improve convenience for patients by using telehealth and remote patient monitoring technologies.”

I believe our members — health information professionals — have the knowledge and experience to contribute to the development of public policy around telehealth so that patients can continue to experience its benefits. Learn more about telehealth at AHIMA.org Wylecia Wiggs Harris, Ph.D., CAE, CEO, American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA)

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The Experience Your Patients Need From the Contact Center As the healthcare experience shifts increasingly online, patients are demanding frictionless, convenient, and more personalized service from their providers.

The patient journey is a crucial aspect of our healthcare system — and one that’s been overlooked for too long. With more and more of our healthcare interactions occurring digitally, healthcare providers are being asked to make services available on more channels — and offer a better experience overall.

“Healthcare is extremely personal,” says Patty Hayward, director of healthcare strategy at Talkdesk, a leading cloudbased contact center provider. “But when you think about a typical patient experience today, it’s not very personal at all.”

The patient experience As healthcare services have moved into the online and digital space, patients have begun to demand the sort of seamless, convenient experience they’re accustomed to in other industries, like retail.

Talkdesk is committed to meeting that challenge. “We’re consumers always, but patients sometimes,” Hayward notes.

“We’re used to that Amazon experience.

Finding a way to bring that same ease into healthcare is very important. Expectations are high — Talkdesk Research™ found that 67 percent of patients are willing to switch providers after just a single bad experience.

Improving the patient journey in healthcare starts with a focus on the patient experience. “In the healthcare industry, there’s a tendency to look at things from the physician experience — providers haven’t really done a great job of putting the patient at the center of healthcare,” says Hayward. “For example, most telehealth systems are designed to maximize each doctor’s efficiency, and the resulting patient experience ends up resembling the in-person one. People will tolerate a typical waiting room when visiting their doctors, but they’re much less tolerant of wait times for telehealth.”

The digital experience patients increasingly expect is frictionless. And it’s crucial that the conversation be personalized — however the patient chooses to interact, whether digital, by phone, or in person, their history should follow them. Finally, today’s patients demand convenience, which means contact should be possible 24 hours a day, seven days a week, with a self-service option as a minimum.

Contact centers play a key role A robust contact center is essential to providing patients the experience they want. “A contact center needs to be thought of as a strategic asset and not a cost center,” Hayward says. “In the past, each department had their own contact center setup. That’s a very fractured experience; patients have to repeat themselves because the context is missing from previous conversations. It needs to be connected.”

A major mistake some healthcare organizations make is cobbling together several digital platforms in an effort to provide patients the experience they want. This can result in a disjointed patient experience, with interactions on one channel failing to follow the patient as they engage on others. An end-to-end, cloud-based Contact Center as a Service (CCaaS) solution, like the Talkdesk Healthcare Experience Cloud™, can give providers a unified view of each patient across touchpoints. This enables a more personalized experience where patients feel understood as they engage across departments and channels.

Transforming patient experience requires a contact center solution that is purpose-built for healthcare with pretrained artificial intelligence (AI) and

robust integrations with core systems.

“I always tell providers that the solution isn’t simply adding a chat feature to your website,” Hayward says. “You’ve got to have great AI behind it. If you don’t, it’s going to cause more confusion and frustration. You need medical-grade speechto-text. You need to be able to teach it what things mean without code. You need to be able to provide smart routing and be able to recommend the next best action. And you need to have deep integrations into the electronic health record, not just a ‘screen pop.’”

Understanding each patient in a connected and convenient journey builds the relationship between people and their care. “When a person needs healthcare, they want empathy — they don’t want to be treated like a medical record number,” notes Hayward. “The patient experience is probably one of the most important things we can be talking about right now.”

Jeff Somers

To learn more about the Talkdesk solutions improving the patient experience, visit talkdesk.com/callcenter-solutions/healthcare.

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How Tech Advancements Are Shaping the Future of Healthcare In the past year, overlooked technologies — like telehealth — became critical to the delivery of quality healthcare. Our panel of experts weighed in on how the growing use of these technologies will impact the future of our healthcare system.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta M.D., Neurosurgeon, Chief Medical Correspondent, CNN

Dr. Cole Barfield M.D., M.B.A., Chief Medical Officer & CoFounder, Wellview

Technology is moving into the healthcare industry in various ways — what are the benefıts to this trend?

Sanjay Gupta: In the world of telehealth, the doctor will always make a house call. That is, by mobile device or other technological means. Surely this is a way to improve the global health of the world. In developing countries with very little or no access to high-quality medical care, but often access to a mobile device, it has the potential to change the health outcomes for people everywhere.

For developed countries, EMRs (electronic medical records) need to become standard operating procedure. Many problems with regards to safety can be traced to poor communication between internal hospital departments. These efficiencies can help patients become their own healthcare managers.

Over the past year, where have you seen technology make the biggest impact in terms of the way patients access care?

Geeta Nayyar M.D., M.B.A., General Manager of Healthcare and Life Sciences & Executive Medical Director, Salesforce

Cole Barfıeld: Telehealth has been the primary driver for improving access to care over the past year. The pandemic forced quick adoption of telehealth with both patients and providers to accommodate physical distancing while also enabling the delivery of care.

In the past, telehealth was primarily driven by simple sick visits. Though this continued to be a trend, especially during the pandemic, we also saw an expansion of telehealth services for continuity of care and chronic disease management.

Telehealth is a transformative way in which patients and providers can communicate and provide access to care.

Geeta Nayyar: The pandemic necessitated, and therefore accelerated, a digital transformation that was already occurring in healthcare. Providers were forced to embrace virtual and digital solutions overnight to continue providing patients with the care they need. But what also happened is that as providers and patients began using these technologies, they found out they actually liked using these services.

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Kyle Laudadio Healthcare and Virtual Care Underwriter, Beazley

These kinds of technologies allow for patients to access care services and for providers to see their patients more easily. This always-on capability is cost effective, reduces barriers for access, and provides patients with long-term health benefits. But we are just scratching the surface of what is possible.

What U.S. regulatory pitfalls do digital health and wellness providers need to be aware of when offering their services across multiple states?

Kyle Laudadio: An advantage of digital healthcare is the ability for providers to deliver specialist services to patients across state or even national borders, however, operating across multiple jurisdictions adds complexity and risk for providers to navigate.

Each U.S. state has its own set of rules and regulations regarding licensing and required limits of insurance; even the definition of telemedicine varies by state. Just because a provider is licensed in one state, they may not be legally permitted to provide the

Tom Conroy Co-Founder and CEO, MedSign International Corporation

same care in any other state. While some states will honor out-of-state licenses, others will not, and sometimes licensing depends on the type of care being offered. This is nothing new and has always been an area of confusion for virtual care providers.

What kind of technology should healthcare providers be prioritizing today?

Tom Conroy: Healthcare providers are already investing in emerging technologies like virtual care services that use artificial intelligence to digitally transform their industry.

However, for these new technologies to be truly effective, there should be a national initiative, led by a collaboration of government and corporate health and non-health industry leadership. The focus must be on advancing state-of-the-art technologies, such as remote patient monitoring, so that everyone, especially the most vulnerable populations, have equal access and opportunity to quality healthcare services.

The Seven Steps to Workplace Wellness Living during and through a global pandemic has raised some very important questions about how to operate our businesses and how to achieve employee wellness.

I

f you think about the workplace as a microcosm of broader societal issues, there is a lot to learn from the different ways people are or are not thriving during this pandemic. How can treating the organization as that microcosm make us better at navigating wellness? Access to proper care, social connection, resources for healthy living, and adequate physical safety are all basic human needs that also need to be fulfilled in the workplace.

Wellness is more prominent in the workplace than it ever has been before.

This means organizations need to think about whether their employees feel taken care of and safe.

Organizations looking to bring people back to work need to reassess the basics

of human need. Do employees feel their organization has cared about their needs and safety through this pandemic? Not feeling supported by an employer could have some serious consequences for both employee wellness and employee engagement.

Organizations should start by asking questions like,“How can I help fulfill my employees’ needs?” The goal is to create a microcosm of wellness that makes employees feel truly cared for in the midst of uncertain times. In order to achieve true wellness at work, here is a list of basic human needs that should be reflected in the workplace: 1. Health Beyond the absence of mental and

physical illness, health is a feeling of strength and energy from your body and mind.

5. Achievement Feeling you have the support, resources, and autonomy to achieve your goals.

2. Meaning This includes feeling part of something bigger than yourself, knowing your work matters, and having purpose.

6.Growth Learning and being challenged to use and expand on your strengths.

3. Safety Knowing you are safe from physical and psychological harm, and being able to trust your organization and team are paramount.

4. Connection Experiencing positive, trusting relationships with others. Feeling a sense of belonging, acceptance, and support.

7. Resiliency Viewing life with optimism. Feeling grateful and expressing appreciation.

Wellness requires investing in what humans are motivated by and what they truly need. Let’s get back to what we know about basic human needs, and let’s think about that in the context of the future of work.

Sara Martin, CEO, WELCOA

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Making Health Information Accessible Where and When It’s Needed Public policies drove the adoption of electronic health records across the United States, but they did not include some types of providers, hampering healthcare’s ability to achieve complete interoperability.

Consumers today expect instant access to all types of information at their fingertips, whether it be banking transactions, map data, or any number of other pieces of data available on personal electronics. Accessing healthcare information, on the other hand, is anything but instant, but that may be changing as the U.S. government has gotten serious about data exchange.

Thanks to landmark legislation known as the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health

Act (HITECH) contained in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, a big investment in healthcare technology was made beginning in 2009.

Importantly, HITECH gave much-needed funding to hospitals and clinicians to invest in electronic health records (EHRs) and, as a result, most of these healthcare providers have EHRs today.

These investments were an important down payment focused on fostering greater digitization of patient data, although it fell short of enabling providers to exchange information seamlessly with one another. One reason for this shortfall is that not all types of healthcare providers were eligible for the above-mentioned programs and, consequently, interoperability across the healthcare sector has not been uniform or without challenges.

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A seamless experience Then in 2016, the 21st Century Cures Act pushed healthcare providers, EHR vendors, and other stakeholders to ensure patient data is appropriately shared with other providers and accessible to patients themselves.

Congress specifically called for — and federal agencies have subsequently mandated — the use of application programming interfaces (APIs); the technology in widespread use today across other industries to facilitate rapid and seamless access to information via thirdparty apps on smartphones.

These APIs should, one day, bring healthcare to the level of seamless data access enjoyed by banking and other consumer-facing industries.

For healthcare, the hope is that APIs will make it easier for patients and clinicians

to download, exchange, and manage healthcare information through both EHRs and third-party applications like smartphone apps. The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services’ Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) and U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services are overseeing the implementation of the 21st Century Cures Act and the ensuing provisions by working to unlock this data long trapped in inaccessible siloed systems.

Easy access Also included in the 21st Century Cures Act is a set of terms and conditions for how this data exchange will operate, known as the Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement (TEFCA).

Currently planned to be

finalized by ONC in 2022, the TEFCA will serve as a voluntary set of policies intended to work as an “on-ramp” to nationwide connectivity and data sharing across the care continuum.

With the TEFCA in place, much of healthcare will have both the means and opportunity to share data with other providers and patients with few barriers.

That is, of course, if you are one of the providers that is able to actually participate and benefit from these programs. As mentioned previously, not all provider types have benefitted evenly from programs and policies intended to drive better healthcare data sharing, with many still effectively locked out or with limited ability to meaningfully participate.

All the goals of advancing interoperability across the United States are laudable but will ultimately fall short of being revolutionary unless everyone is included in the interoperability conversation.

Healthcare as an industry must continue to push forward into the future, innovating and creating new technologies. While we do so, however, it’s crucial we raise the floor to ensure all provider types have access to this evolution of care.

If all providers aren’t able to gain access to patient data, it ultimately is the patient who suffers as they must continue to navigate a partially interoperable health system without the complete seamless flow of data they were promised so many years ago.

Mari Savickis, Vice President, Public Policy, College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME)

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The Tool Helping Healthcare Providers Fix Their Online Reputations

It’s important for healthcare providers to maintain a good online reputation.

Here’s why: over 80 percent of patients check online reviews when choosing a healthcare provider; 40 percent won’t visit a healthcare provider who has poor reviews; and 75 percent would only consider providers who have at least 4 or more stars.

These statistics are from a recent survey of over 1,700 adults in the United States, conducted by RepuGen, an allin-one healthcare reputation management platform. The same survey found 69 percent of patients visit two or more review platforms, before deciding on a healthcare provider.

The days of providers not being concerned about online reviews are over.

“We tell providers you have to address it,” says Ajay Prasad, CEO of RepuGen. “This is something you cannot ignore.”

The patient’s visit extends beyond the doctor’s office.

While patients often don’t leave comments when they have a positive experience at a healthcare practice, they often leave comments about negative experiences. Plus, they tend to leave those negative reviews on as many review sites they can find.

Not having any reviews is detrimental to a provider’s reputation too.

“If a doctor has no reviews, it’s as bad as having bad reviews,” says Prasad.

to increase patient trust. There are seven key review platforms, with Google and WebMD being top sites, as well as Yelp, and others like HealthGrades and Facebook.

“You have to have reviews on all these sites,” says Prasad.

Cross-platform reviews are important because consumers of different demographics don’t all check the same websites. For example, the survey says that patients ages 18-60 trust Google, while patients 60 and older trust WebMD more.

Reviews need to be recent too. “Recency of reviews are as important for the patient as the ratings,” he says.

According to the RepuGen survey, half of patients wouldn’t trust a review that’s older than one year.

Reputation solution RepuGen can be a review solution for providers. The automated tool for health practices sends satisfaction surveys to patients immediately after they’ve had an appointment with their provider.

About 30-40 percent of patients take the survey. If a patient gives positive feedback, they’re encouraged to leave a review on different social platforms. That often results in a few written positive reviews a week. Medical practices can showcase their positive Google-ranked testimonials on their website.

Negative patient reviews are referred to an internal patient feedback box to discuss the appointment. That feedback is sent back to the practice so they

can follow up with the patient.

The top three reasons for negative feedback are quality of care received, the provider’s demeanor, and billing issues.

The study also showed that younger patients are more likely to leave a negative review than older patients.

“You can reach out to unhappy patients so that you can quickly recover them,” says Prasad, noting the average recovery rate of RepuGen users is over 80 percent.

He says patients typically appreciate the provider’s feedback and ultimately don’t leave the negative review.

Recent reviews Providers should solicit reviews on a regular basis on a variety of review platforms

Win-win The healthcare reputation management platform helps providers garner more reviews from patients and gives them the opportunity to assess their patient experiences.

Positive reviews can help improve a provider’s online reputation, increase referrals from other providers, and help them acquire new patients and retain current patients. All of these factors can result in increased revenue for the provider.

“Patients all deserve to be heard and respected and be taken care of,” says Prasad. “It creates a win-win situation.”

Kristen Castillo

Learn more about RepuGen and schedule a demo: repugen.com.

MEDIAPLANET 15

How Better Technology Is Reshaping the Future of Dentistry As a general dentist, I urge my patients to commit to visiting the dentist at least twice a year.

A regular visit to the dentist can potentially protect a patient from severe illnesses because, as general dentists, we now include important healthcare screenings and utilize new technologies to improve oral health and the overall well-being of our patients.

Introducing new healthcare screenings and technologies to the dental practice is bridging the gap between the medical and dental sectors, and reshaping the future of dentistry.

Most people think general dentists only care about what goes on in the mouth — gingivitis, cavities, halitosis, extractions, fıllings, root canals, and other basic oral health concerns. In reality, we screen for the onset of additional health challenges like hypertension, high blood pressure, diabetes, and oral cancer.

General dentists have known that most undiagnosed health conditions begin within the oral cavity and can remain asymptomatic for long periods of time. That’s why seeing your general dentist regularly can have a huge impact on improving your overall health.

Upgraded technologies New and innovative technologies are reshaping opportunities for my practice to improve a patient’s care and experience in my offıce. They help us communicate with our patients, check in more regularly on their needs, and be better prepared so appointments can run more smoothly.

I’m especially excited about the new laser technologies in dentistry that allow me to treat patients effectively and less invasively with outstanding results.

Without a doubt, technology is transforming our lives, and this is especially true in dentistry. That means it’s more important than ever to work with a dental professional who can guide you through your options. You can fınd a general dentist through the Academy of General Dentistry at agd.org.

Bruce L. Cassis, D.D.S., MAGD, President, Academy of General Dentistry

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How Dental Coverage Improves Access to Affordable Care

Poor dental health impacts overall health, contributing to millions of lost work and school hours annually, and more emergency room visits. While routine dental exams can help prevent some or all of these outcomes, many do not receive necessary dental care.

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hy? The cost of dental care is the No. 1 barrier, followed by lack of coverage, according to the 2020 NADP Consumer Survey. Those with dental coverage are 50 percent more likely to have visited the dentist in the past year and receive needed dental care. The mission of the National Association of Dental Plans (NADP) is to overcome these barriers by improving consumer access to affordable, quality dental care.

NADP members are major dental plans and nonprofit organizations that cover more than 200 million Americans with individual and employer-sponsored dental benefits, which overcome the top two barriers to care. Each year, dental plans contribute millions of dollars in dental care to uninsured individuals.

The extra mile The COVID-19 pandemic and economic recession brought a wave of furloughs and job losses, with concerns about keeping dental coverage and accessing dentist visits. Dental plans responded by supporting consumers, employers, and dentists during the pandemic in many ways.

They eased the financial burden for consumers and employers with premium rebates and credits,

and made it easier to access dentists by covering teledentistry visits. Plans also promoted better dental health by encouraging people to seek care through extended annual maximum limits, waiving or reducing plan deductibles, and waiving or relaxing frequency limitations and pre-authorization requirements.

Dental plans helped dentists be more prepared, too, by offering economic assistance to support the purchase of personal protective equipment (PPE) through advance claims payment programs, low- or no-interest loans and grants, and temporary PPE courtesy payments.

The NADP promotes access to dental care by advocating for consumer choice and access in state and federal policies, and offering useful public resources, like educational information about benefits and oral health on WhyDental.org. There’s also an online, searchable directory of dental carriers by state and product on NADP.org.

Want to know more about the importance of maintaining oral health and how dental coverage can help? Visit www.WhyDental.org.

Eme Augustini, Executive Director, National Association of Dental Plans (NADP)

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Making Oral Health Accessible for All Americans Oral health should be accessible and affordable for every American. But recent data shows nearly 25 percent of Americans — 74 million people — don’t have dental insurance.

Understanding the access gap Patients may not go to the dentist for a variety of reasons including not having insurance, lack of appointment availability, or transportation and logistics, such as a lack of

PHOTO: DC STUDIO

S

eparate data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that 22 percent of American adults with dental coverage didn’t see a dentist in the year prior to COVID-19. The pandemic only made matters worse, as many consumers who would normally have regular visits opted to wait.

Post-pandemic, they’re ready to go back. According to an American Dental Association poll, 90 percent of patients reported having already been back to or are ready to go to the dentist.

“Making sure people have access to high-quality, affordable, oral healthcare is critically important,” says David Olson, senior vice president, of network and Medicare Advantage at oral healthcare company DentaQuest, the nation’s largest Medicaid dental insurer.

The company manages dental and vision benefits for more than 33 million Americans with a nationwide network and provides direct patient care through more than 70 oral health centers in six states.

childcare or getting time off from work. Other barriers can include cultural norms, emotional or mental health issues, or a lack of education.

There’s also a patient backlog post-pandemic, but Olson says DentaQuest providers are meeting that need.

“We are attacking this problem from all sides to deliver on our mission to improve the oral health of all,” he says.

Solution-oriented DentaQuest is closing access gaps by educating patients, setting up community dental clinics in underserved areas, and offering more appointment availability, as well as teledentistry.

Pre-pandemic, DentaQuest had 170 teledentistry visits per

month with members enrolled in Medicaid. During April and May 2020, they had more than 13,000 teledentistry visits and now have 3,200 teledentistry visits per month.

Their data shows that patients with a teledentistry appointment cost 10 percent less to treat over the course of a year than those who didn’t use teledentistry.

“If the majority of Americans’ dental benefits don’t include teledentistry, then everything else we’re doing — while important and beneficial — isn’t going to move the needle as quickly or as far,” says DentaQuest president and CEO Steve Pollock.

“DentaQuest’s role as a leading provider of dental benefits enables us to reach millions

of people across the country and move the industry toward large-scale change.”

The ADA reports that 70 percent of hospital emergency department visits for dental conditions happen outside regular business hours. Those hospital emergency department visits cost $2.7 billion.

Olson, who calls teledentistry convenient and great for providers and patients because it helps eliminate unnecessary emergency room visits, adds, “It’s a great option for the provider and member for any precare or follow-up care needs.”

Providing value Prevention is critical for better patient outcomes, as well as cost savings. At DentaQuest that starts with implementing

a dental home model, which means connecting patients to a primary dental care provider in their area.

“We see incredible results from our dental home program where access goes up, preventive care goes up, but the longterm costs actually decrease because we’re delivering preventive care that reduces the need for more costly and potentially unnecessary care,” says Olson.

A robust oral health network capable of meeting the preventive needs of all members is critical for dental homes to work.

DentaQuest is committed to recruiting and retaining dental providers. They know the continuity of care is a benefit for both patients and dentists.

“DentaQuest has the opportunity to be able to drive change in the oral health system — to harness innovation and move us purposefully toward a future that includes accessible, affordable, quality oral healthcare for all,” says Pollock. “Teledentistry and dental homes are just some of the ways we’ve already begun to do that.”

Kristen Castillo

To learn more, visit dentaquest.com

MEDIAPLANET

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Technology moves fast in cosmetic dentistry. In the era of selfıes and Zoom meetings, dentists have to be on the cutting edge to keep their patients looking their best.

Here are just some of the ways cosmetic dentists are staying ahead of the times to keep their patients’ smiles looking camera-ready: Replacing old-fashioned impressions One major advance in technology includes dental scanners, which are used in place of old-fashioned impressions, says Dr. Rena Vakay, D.D.S., an accredited member of the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry.

Patients love that dental scanners offer an effıcient, clean, and comfortable way to take impressions for routine dental crowns, implants, and Invisalign. Patients no longer need to suffer a sticky mouthful of impression material; it can all be done digitally now!

New technology in X-rays Like with impressions, there have also been major advances in X-ray technology. The high-tech radiographic machine called a cone beam, or CBCT, allows your dentist to create a 3D image of your teeth, mouth, jaw, neck, and ears, nose, and throat.

Easy-peasy prepless veneers In terms of improving the look of your smile, prepless veneers — an ultra-thin porcelain shell bonded to the front tooth surface — have fınally come into their own and are accessible to more people than ever before. Prepless veneers cover stains, chips, and other flaws, and can often be placed in a single appointment. With proper care, these veneers can last many years, improving your self-confıdence and giving you the smile you’ve always dreamed of.

To learn more about whitening and other trends in improving your smile, be sure to visit yoursmilebecomesyou.com.

American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry

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Celebrity Dentist Dr. Bill Dorfman Explains the Importance of Oral Health Dr. Bill Dorfman is the featured dentist on the ABC series “Extreme Makeover” and a guest co-host on CBS’s “The Doctors.” We talked to him about why oral health is so important and what he’s doing to provide more people with quality care.

Innovations in cosmetic dentistry continue to dominate the industry. What are you most excited about right now?

The most exciting news I can think of is the advent and utilization of computer-guided implants, and the ability to fabricate complete or partial implant-supported bridges to restore missing teeth with a beautiful, naturally appearing, functional, comfortable, long-lasting, and permanent solution.

With an influx of at-home aligners, teeth whitening products, and more, why should patients still seek out the advice of a dentist or cosmetic dentist?

As far as whitening is concerned, as long as the product you use has a neutral pH, you will not damage your teeth. The main difference

between in-office and at-home systems is in the speed with which you will attain maximum results. All teeth have a maximum whiteness they will attain, so at a certain point (usually after two weeks of take-home, or one or two in-office whitening sessions) you have hit the limit.

At-home aligners are tricky.

With minor rotations, they can solve a problem, however, it always makes me nervous when a treatment that takes a dentist four more years of advanced training is performed without the dentist monitoring progress. I highly recommend going to a dentist for orthodontic treatment.

The appearance of one’s teeth carries signifıcant weight. Why is that? Why should we value our smiles?

Your smile says a lot about you.

In addition to fitting into our concept of “beauty,” it also is often a reflection of our health, hygiene, happiness, and social status. People who are ashamed of their smiles may cover them up or just refrain from smiling, and thus are judged differently than how they really are.

PHOTO: COURTESY OF DR. BILL DORFMAN

How Cosmetic Dentists Stay on the Cutting Edge of Technology

Tell us more about your philanthropic work with the LEAP Foundation, and the ways the organization has evolved and gained new momentum during the pandemic.

For the past 14 years, we have held the country’s No. 1 weeklong motivational/leadership program at UCLA for students 15-25+ called LEAP. At LEAP, we teach students the skills they need to be successful in life that they typically don’t learn in traditional education.

Over the years, we have attained a lot of support from community leaders and celebrities alike. Past speakers include Mark Wahlberg, Paula Abdul, Michael Strahan, Kathy Bates, Anthony Hopkins, Jason Alexander, Usher, Eva Longoria, and many more.

Typically, we have over 450 students attend in person at UCLA. In 2020, we had to make a quick pivot and switch the program to be fully virtual. The advantage is that we were able to enroll more than 1,000 students, and in 2021 we did a hybrid in-person/virtual program. Going forward, we will continue the hybrid approach and try to reach as many students as possible.

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