General

 

With healthcare technology trends at an all-time high, fitness apps, telehealth apps, and electronic records are all evolving to a patient-centric model to shape the future of healthcare. It seems we are all learning along the way, but one truth remains; patients who are more engaged, have better outcomes. Health tech companies, including the healthcare, pharmaceutical, and insurance industries will focus on creating digital solutions to engage patients. Engagement opportunities are an area I find the most important to examine when creating a digital product that truly engages patients. How will the product enhance the health of the patient? How can the product aid the patient when they need it most?

In the last couple of years, we’ve seen patients take a more active role in their health.  The internet puts millions of health information at our fingertips giving us the tools we need to research and learn more about our conditions, relevant treatments, and future prevention. We can now take a proactive approach to our health and see a physician and receive a prescription in 20 minutes from our smartphone. This ability to access healthcare in the palm of your hand allows patients to seek immediate care that otherwise would have been pushed off due to convenience and time. When patients seek treatment earlier, they prevent a worsening condition and spend more time healthy. Mobile healthcare also allows ERs and immediate care clinics to focus on patients with severe issues that need immediate attention, rather than patients who have ailments that can be cared for via virtual consultation.

In 2019, successful solutions and applications will have features that promote patient engagement. Whether this is patient marketing or online engagement tools, the more opportunities for the patient to interact the better the outcomes. Healthcare technology companies will begin working to personalize content and tools based on the patient’s needs in efforts to finally move away from the traditional “one size fits all’ healthcare model. “There’s a real opportunity for a future of patient-centricity where the patient is empowered and is an active partner in their healthcare through the digital medium.”  

Kombucha filled kitchens, comfortable seating, and floating plants are some amenities you may find in a Brooklyn cafe, not a doctor’s office. However, now clinical groups are adding features like this along with on-demand mobile care as a drastic enhancement from the traditional doctor office setting to transform the waiting room and change the way patients feel about seeing their doctor. The key word and effort through this whole initiative is  “feel”. These new offices and digital settings aim to make patients feel calm and improve mental and physical wellbeing.

 

According to the National Academy of Medicine, about 90% of diseases are correlated with social determinants. Social determinants are defined as the conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work and age. Membership based clinics and telehealth programs are now taking the initiative to restructure the traditional healthcare model that only focuses on prescriptions and procedures by providing patients with a preventative care model.  An approach where patients and doctors are in consistent communication so that doctors can better understand what exactly could be impacting their patient’s health. This proactive structure aims to build a truly customized experience for each patient based on their social determinants and prioritize their health and wellbeing rather than write off prescriptions every time they come in for a visit.

 

Even more intriguing than these “calm” offices is the role that telehealth plays in the transformation of the doctor-patient relationship. When patients are able to connect with their doctor through their mobile device and in the comfort of their own home, they are more likely to initiate a preventative consultation and avoid an emergency visit. Patients are most tranquil in their own space and don’t have to deal with an anxious waiting room after taking off work and driving across town.  Rather than having a consultation in a cold exam room, patients can opt for one in-bed where they undoubtedly will feel more relaxed which in turn will breed better communication.

 

Whether it’s a strategically designed office or patient’s own homes,  it’s proven that the environment can change the way people feel physically and mentally. When patients feel comfortable, they establish more trust in their relationship with their doctor and in-turn a healthier relationship and better outcomes progress.

Telehealth is already starting to transform healthcare in this country, but it’s about to get better.  Like any system, it is only as strong as its weakest link. We love streaming movies, but when our network speeds are slow, it can be frustrating.  And for rural communities slow network speeds can lead to more challenging communication. When your nearest doctor is 50 miles away and you depend on telehealth for your urgent and preventive care, you care about your network speed.  

I remember when I first saw the power of telehealth many years ago in Chennai, India.  Nurses drove off to the remote countryside in vans equipped with appropriate equipment, trained technicians, and satellite technology that would connect them with doctors back in the hospital.  I can’t imagine that they had a great connection speed, but they made it work.

Today’s American users are much less patient with communication delays.  We have become an instant gratification society and yet our healthcare hasn’t caught up.  We text our friends and coworkers and expect them to reply within a minute. We order products online and expect the items to be at our doorstep the next day.  And yet the average wait time to get a doctor’s appointment in this country is 29 days! Clearly we have a disconnect. Which is why the ability to see your doctor within minutes makes telehealth such a natural progression of healthcare for our society.

We have every indication that after enjoying the convenience of having a secure video chat with their doctor online and having their prescription sent electronically to their local pharmacy, that they will be about as excited to go the the doctor’s office as they are to actually have to step foot inside a bank!  Granted there are times when it will be necessary to have a physical examination, but there are some exciting developments in home monitoring devices that will make these visits much less frequent. Today’s bluetooth devices allow your doctor to see inside your throat, your ears, check your temperature and your heart rate, all without ever leaving the comfort of home.  Even OBGYNS are using telehealth for blood pressure and glucose monitoring to effectively manage obstetric patients. With the rapid advancement in wearables, the potential for our doctors to keep an eye on us remotely is both exciting and reassuring.

All of these amazing remote monitoring devices improve not only the convenience of care for urban patients but also the viability of effective care for rural patients where infant mortalities are 2x that of their urban sisters.  But all of this remote monitoring requires the transfer of large files that can put a strain on communications networks, increasing congestion, slowing network speeds and thus negatively impacting the user experience. Poor connection quality can delay patient care which could hurt outcomes.

As the strain of data on our networks increases, 5G technologies have the possibility to open the pipes to handle the traffic we need.  I recently attended the JP Morgan Healthcare conference in San Francisco and 5G was one of the hottest topics there. What is 5G? 5G stands for Fifth Generation Cellular Wireless.  It promises to deliver the speed of fiber over cellular networks. We may not see it in full swing until 2022 but speeds should start to pick up between now and then as carriers continue to install the multiple small cell sites needed to make the technology work.  Carriers will install fiber optics to a cell site every few blocks and voila! Granted I’m over simplifying, but the end result will be an increase in speed of 10s of megabits per second. Our phones will get slimmer, driverless cars will really kick into gear, and telehealth with all of the bells & whistles of remote devices will become as common as your television.

Meanwhile I’ll still take an instant connection to my doctor over fighting traffic, waiting for a spot in a busy medical center parking lot and sitting for an hour or two in an overcrowded waiting room.  But I’m still super excited about the increased collaboration between specialists and improved care for rural communities that faster networks will afford.

Dec 30, 2018/by Matt Wanderer

Although giving should be an all-year-round thing, the giving season is officially coming to an end, and I wanted to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their support this year! After months of anticipation, as you already know, Carie is finally here!! I also wanted to express my gratitude to those providers who have generously given their time to those who need it by joining our social cause Share the care.

Share the Care has been created to bring healthcare to those who need it the most. Providers can participate in the Share the Care program by donating a free, digital consultation to a charity, non-profit, or disaster-relief victims.

Doctors can join the Share the Care movement by simply agreeing to donate up to one free consultation a month. The Carie team will work hard to connect your generosity with someone in need of care and help to coordinate your virtual care contribution seamlessly.

As a little “thank you”, providers who sign up to support the service, will receive an online badge for your provider listing and microsite to help spread the word of your generous participation in the Share the Care program and periodic recognition on Carie’s digital awareness campaign. Even 8-10 minutes of your time and talent will make a significant difference in people’s lives.

Help us change to make the world a healthier place one month at a time!

Once, again thank you to everyone who has supported and rooted for us! We couldn’t have done it without you!

Oct 10, 2018/by Matt Wanderer

 

Work-Life Balance: Finding my way back to the 4F’s

We live in a world where the work never stops, putting in extra time to win in our careers is normal We know from major research that in order to be exceptional in any given field you need to put in serious extra time and likely pull all-nighters. Statistics state that in order to be good at something you need to put in 10,000 hours!! So, yea, working is a part of life and a component of being successful. But when is it too much? When is it counterproductive and when is it just plain dumb?? I’ve seen a lot of people who so focused on their careers that they overwork themselves, they burn themselves out, they fail at work and they fail at home, finding that balance is everything

Like I try to do in business every day, I want to lay my challenges out there and be honest about how hard its been to find work-life balance lately, it’s hard, sometimes it feels impossible the pressure to keep up with 2018 and maintain one’s sanity and a healthy lifestyle is a daily challenge. To keep it simple and easy I try to remember what I call the “Four Fs” Family, Friends, Fitness and Finance.

A long time ago I made a personal decision that no matter what,  family comes first.   hard to be fully present with my eye on the right stuff at home my mind constantly wants to hustle and work especially now in crunch time for the Carie launch!! But I when I’m with my family, I am trying my best to be PRESENT at the moment. Turn off the phone, ignore some email, miss a few texts, it’s all still there in an hour or two when we check back in. Just do what you can to soak up the moments with my kids, my wife, my dog..  watching them grow, and enjoying the little things in life as much as possible.

Next, There’s no way to overstate the importance of having quality time with a good friend. Making time to nurture real friendships is important to me. Although I’m constantly busy I t make time to see them, to chill out and, just catch up on life, reminisce on old stuff, dream about new stuff…. To really belly laugh is the greatest “refresh” button I’ve found.

Third, In order to really have a balanced life, you definitely need your “me” time. Fitness, for me, is my “me” time. I try to completely zone out and enjoy my workouts. Not only that, but I feel like working out is also my therapist. Here, I let my anger out, I brainstorm, I get new ideas. It is extremely fulfilling to be able to get an all-around benefit. Health should be our number one priority.

Lastly, At the end of the day, what ties it all back in this big crazy wonderful and expensive world, is Finance. We all have to work, we all have to pay the bills, that relentless pull of dollars from your wallet is never really gonna ease up, so we stay on our business, try to be smart with our money and try to find peace with the long-term marathon that we have to plan to win.

What is your work-life balance method? always on the hunt for a better way!