Ever since I saw this tweet from Shereese, I’ve been pondering on how important the concept of seamless technology is to healthcare:
That's kind of what I meant by "failure to evolve". Nobody wants to pay for a $400 heart monitor. You have to engage users w/ applications that make their health/wellness seamless in their lives. Thoughts? #hitsm #digitalhealth pic.twitter.com/SUo39th8tk
— ShereeseM, MS/MBA (@ShereesePubHlth) January 22, 2018
Shereese is spot on that for patients to become users of healthcare technology solutions and health applications, they need to provide a seamless experience that works with their lives. This is why so many Fitbit like wearable solutions have been abandoned. Those solutions didn’t fit seamlessly into their lives. Pair that with many of them not being very clinically relevant and it’s no wonder that wearable use falls off a cliff.
Turns out that the same is true for providers. Providers want whatever healthcare IT application they’re using to fit seamlessly into their workflow. The problem with many EHR is that they didn’t fit seamlessly into a provider’s workflow. Why then did they adopt them? The answer is simple: $36 billion of stimulus money. If that incentive didn’t happen, most doctors would still not be using an EHR. At least not until one figured out how to fit into their practice seamlessly.
I don’t want to let doctors completely off the hook. When implementing an EHR or any healthcare IT solution, some adaption is good. Being obstinant about your current workflow just because “it’s the way you’ve always done it” is a mistake as well. Technology can enable new workflows that wouldn’t have been possible before implementing technology into your organization. So, some change is good when technology enables something new and better.
Like most things in life. It’s all about balance. The technology needs to keep improving so that it can fit seamlessly into our personal lives as patients and physician’s work lives. However, we also need to be open to change when it means improvement over our current approach. Add in the need to provide clear benefits (see my post yesterday) and you have a recipe for success. Without these things and you have a disaster.
Two cave men are sitting around a rock, in the dark, pondering the sky. A lightning bolt strikes and sets brush on fire; the landscape is now alight. Caveman 1 says to Caveman 2, how can I integrate this light into my life. Caveman 2 says to Caveman 1, without effort and a plan, you won’t. Carrot and stick approach to ramming EHR down the throats of MD’s (many who used .net to create data entry screens and sold this) while planning to retrieve that 36 billion in fines and penalties. EMR/EHR needed an approach that took place in many other industries as they automated, go outside yourself and see what are the better ways of incorporating technology. It is frustrating for a technology professional to keep hearing about these billing engines and how hard it is to get claims processed and approved, even with an EMR. Healthcare IT solutions don’t have to be seamless or follow the current workflow. IT solutions are there to support better processes and to create better workflow through effort and planning.