Enhancing the healthcare experience with a digital platform approach

Physicians, consumers and payer systems are frustrated with inadequate consumer information and disjointed data systems. Without a comprehensive view of an individual’s medical history, quality of care suffers and costs rise. Rajeev Ronanki, president of digital platforms and chief digital officer at Anthem, Bobby Samuel, staff vice president of AI technology at Anthem, Michael Guarino, executive director of the Independent Physician Association of Nassau/Suffolk counties, and Jonas Goldstein, vice president of product strategy at Vim, shared during a webinar on Nov. 17 how a platform-based approach can resolve many of these issues.

Consumers and clinicians aren’t satisfied with the fragmented nature of healthcare. Technology should make things easier, but when not streamlined, there is still duplicative paperwork and data entry and lack of coordination and visibility. A centralized platform helps solve these issues if done right. A platform should contain data and insights that seamlessly connect providers and empowers consumers through easy access. Further, the platform should connect siloed information, providing deeper context into the individual’s health history to help with clinical decision-making.

A well-designed platform connects third-party applications, provider systems and payers, enabling a 360-degree view, including medical records, pharmacy information and accurate remote patient monitoring data. When stakeholders partner to optimize a platform, it mitigates the siloes created when working alone. In an iterative process, the stakeholders can share challenges and opportunities, brainstorming how to fine-tune the platform while considering each entity’s needs and experiences. When partnering to develop and fine-tune the platform, everyone wins.

Security systems in healthcare must go beyond traditional security, with a login, username and password. It should involve a zero-trust framework whereby access is authenticated with encryption. The system should be continually monitored to avoid breaches from both within and outside the organization. Outside of production, no one should have access to actual healthcare data and consumer consent must be required to share the data in the platform.

Platforms can improve care by engaging individuals in their health. For example, in a diabetes program, a payer or provider can offer incentives like gift cards to individuals for checking daily glucose levels. This can encourage individuals to better monitor their health. Platforms that offer tools for consumers to understand out-of-pocket costs for care services is another crucial component. A platform can color code providers with red, yellow or green to help consumers distinguish between quality ratings and higher and lower cost of care options.

A well-designed platform uses a blockchain-based system to collect and store data. With permission from the individual, the provider can see where they sought care and the results of that treatment. The individual can also grant access to other interested parties, giving providers a comprehensive picture of their health. It’s also possible to use this data to generate insights for individual and population health.

Watch the full webinar on-demand at www.modernhealthcare.com/AnthemWebinar.