Embracing the humanization era in healthcare

Digital Health

The 3rd Spain Healthcare Innovation Summit convened a diverse spectrum of healthcare stakeholders, from government officials and clinicians to researchers, uniting them in a collaborative effort to revolutionize global healthcare practices. Among the speakers, Mariana Bandeira, Senior Account Executive at UpHill, addressed the role of technology in reshaping the doctor-patient relationship in a patient-driven ecosystem.

Mariana Bandeira

November 17, 2023 · 5 min read

Transcribing clinical records by voice, paperless prescriptions, automated scheduling, automatic assistants monitoring patients, or even robotic surgery is not science fiction. There are numerous examples of how technology redesigns the way healthcare reaches, interacts, and treats citizens throughout a relationship that is increasingly continuous, proactive, close, and secure.

One could say that patient-centred care is the way to go. But we at UpHill prefer to think about patient-driven care. Why? Because patient-driven care extends beyond placing the patient at the centre of healthcare decision-making and tailoring services to their unique needs. It means dynamically using real-time patient information to adapt and refine each individual's healthcare journey. This approach involves actively and safely leveraging the data received from patients to continuously adjust and optimize their ongoing care, ensuring that every step of the process aligns precisely with their evolving needs, preferences, and values.

The good news is that we now have the tools to make it happen.

Empowering patients with a personalized care journey...

Care journeys play a pivotal role in modern healthcare by offering a structured roadmap that guides patients’ care. Standardizing best practices within these care journeys ensures consistency and quality in healthcare delivery, no matter where the patient is. By mapping the ideal path for specific conditions or treatments, healthcare providers can streamline processes, reduce errors, and enhance overall patient outcomes.

Moreover, these journeys foster coordination among various levels of care and healthcare professionals, bridging the gaps that often lead to disjointed care approaches, resulting in suboptimal outcomes and increased healthcare costs. Care journeys serve as a cohesive thread, weaving the different facets of care into a unified narrative. They facilitate seamless transitions between care settings, ensuring that vital information and treatments are consistently communicated and executed.

… and increasing healthcare professionals' efficiency…

On top of that, if one has care orchestration software working together with clinical pathways, we have the “best of both worlds”: the scientific knowledge to define processes and the technology to streamline them.

Care orchestration software combines decision support tools – providing healthcare professionals with a real-time roadmap to ensure standardized and evidence-based care delivery – and communication and automation capabilities – leveraging automation to handle administrative or repetitive tasks and empowering healthcare providers to optimize their efforts and focus on differentiated tasks and more complex patient needs.

The greatest strength lies in the care orchestration solutions' ability to reduce care fragmentation through resolutive digital interactions, providing an open channel for engaging, monitoring, and treating patients between standard care interactions. These systems aid healthcare professionals in prioritizing actions and attention to patients requiring immediate care or heightened support.

Through comprehensive patient tracking, these technologies enable a panoramic view of each patient’s journey, fostering a proactive approach to healthcare delivery where personalized care is streamlined and resources are allocated effectively to those in most need.

… through interoperable and robust technology.

Emphasizing the importance of interoperability capabilities in a care orchestration software is paramount in optimizing healthcare delivery. Interoperability, such as HL7, acts as the connective tissue, enabling seamless communication and data exchange across various healthcare systems. In a landscape where information is scattered across different platforms, interoperability ensures that pertinent patient data flows effortlessly between systems, fostering collaboration among health teams. This interoperable framework not only streamlines processes but also enhances the accuracy and timeliness of decision-making, ultimately resulting in improved patient care. Interoperability is pivotal for creating a unified and efficient healthcare ecosystem, where information is fluid, and collaboration is seamless.

Care orchestration software’s must-haves to promote patient-driven care.

In addition to mapping care journeys, integrating a decision support system, and automating actions, there are other critical features to consider when choosing software in order to ensure a patient-driven approach. A software that allows:

Personalization: creating individual patient journeys based on predefined and evidence-based clinical pathways, allowing customization.
Remote and resolutive monitoring: embedding remote monitoring care based on patient-acquired data, preventing hospital visits or emergency episodes.
Bi-directional communication channels: ensuring bi-directionally open channels, enabling patients to report signs of deterioration and access care when needed.
Automated data incorporation: incorporating relevant clinical information, preferences, and PROMs and PREMs into patient records without loading healthcare professionals.
Intelligent interpretation of data collected: collecting and interpreting data to provide recommendations or the automated progression of the patient journeys, leveraging interoperability to trigger automation.
Integration and Interoperability: seamlessly integrating with existing systems, such as electronic medical records, medical devices and communication channels, through robust interoperability capabilities.
Simplicity: providing intuitive and low-effort interactions that run in the background for patients and professionals to foster adoption.
Compliance: guaranteeing data security and compliance with standards like ISO 27001.

Digitalization strengthening humanization.

The shift towards patient-driven healthcare empowers individuals to actively manage their well-being through a digital connection that bridges the gap between patients and their care, ultimately improving patient outcomes.

Embracing digital health balances healthcare systems, enhancing patient resolution while minimizing resource utilization. It also reshapes the doctor-patient relationship into a continuous through a digitally facilitated connection. Embracing digital health balances healthcare systems, enhancing patient resolution while minimizing resource utilization. It also reshapes the doctor-patient relationship into a continuous through a digitally facilitated connection. As healthcare professionals leverage technology to handle tasks, they are more available to listen, think, and treat their patients, moving from executors to decision-makers and managers.

Lastly, this evolving doctor-patient relationship does not lessen the humanity in healthcare. It intensifies it. Technology, especially automation, allows healthcare professionals to focus on what truly matters: their patients. It empowers them to establish profound connections, emphasizing the patient's significance in the healthcare narrative.

Mariana Bandeira

Senior Account Executive