Kyruus Blog

Tell us about the track you’re leading at ATLAS:

The Driving Your Health System’s Digital Transformation track at this year’s ATLAS focuses on a topic that has been defined as the “use of technology to radically change the performance or reach of an enterprise,” per the widely recognized definition of MIT Sloan professor George Westerman. We will be covering topics ranging from how to introduce digital transformation initiatives into your organization, to physician engagement in the context of said initiatives, along with real narratives from leaders who have taken digital transformation journeys at their respective organizations.

We in Boston were proud to have our city included on Becker’s list of health IT hubs to know. After participating in the IX Health innovation summit at Cincinnati’s Union Hall recently, I would not be surprised to see Cincinnati on a future edition of the list. In the words of Wendy Lea, CEO of Cintrifuse (one of the sponsoring hosts of the event), Union Hall is the “front door to innovation in the greater Cincinnati region.”

While the initiatives and investments of the StartupCincy community span multiple industries, healthcare is a primary vertical of focus, given the high density of providers (Mercy Health, Cincinnati Children’s, TriHealth, and U Cincinnati Health were among those represented), large payors (Humana), and large self-insured employers (Kroger, Proctor & Gamble) in the area. All of these stakeholders had a presence at the summit, which created a robust forum for discussion on a number of key topics, one of which was Patient Access 2.0: Breaking Down Barriers With Patient Centric Design.

Our nation's healthcare system suffers from a mismatch between patient demand and provider supply, something that we refer to as the "Patient Access Paradox". Almost everyone has had a personal experience with the problem of long appointment wait times, which range between 3 and 30 weeks across the country for both primary and specialist care. Yet at the same time, our hospital clients experience as low as 50-60% physician productivity, struggling to "unlock" the capacity that is buried somewhere in their provider networks.

An analysis of leading health systems’ appointment request forms.

Many health systems allow patients to submit electronic physician appointment requests from their online web and mobile applications. Online appointment request forms can be an effective way to generate leads and attract patients to your organization’s services.

However, form abandonment is a significant risk that could prevent patients with legitimate clinical needs from getting the services they need from your organization. 

 Factors that are frequently cited as drivers of form abandonment include:

• Length of form– will the user be intimidated by a long list of wordy questions?
• Sensitivity of information being requested– is the information too personal?
• Credibility of website– does the website look secure?
• Surprises or irrelevant information– will the user be surprised or turned off by requests for information that seem irrelevant to the core purpose of the form?

[Originally posted on O'Reilly Strata Blog]

Oct 13-15: Hospital & Physicians Relations Summit (Scottsdale, AZ)
Kyruus Chief Product Officer, Julie Yoo, to speak with Dr. Michael Nochomovitz, President of University Hospitals Physician Services, on "Bridging Patients & Physicians With Big Data"

"Are you Visiting the Right Doctor?

As healthcare’s regulatory landscape continues to change in unprecedented ways, significant financial interests and potential commercial conflicts held by physicians are garnering much attention and scrutiny. A recent Wall Street Journal article underscored the significance of potential reputational risk of physician-industry relationships by detailing the payments made by GlaxoSmithKline to a high-profile celebrity doctor that surfaced as the result of the recent record-setting settlement with the DOJ. In addition, the DOJ has stepped up its scrutiny of medical device implantations due to concerns of over-utilization and medical necessity, and the surgeons performing those cases may have significant relationships with the manufacturers of those products – oftentimes for very good reasons (collaboration to invent new products and conduct innovative clinical trials), but sometimes under-managed, nonetheless.

Aug 20, 2012