In an era of value-based care providers across the spectrum, care is being measured (and compensated) on patient health outcomes. While no one is arguing with the focus base, many providers are finding it difficult to adapt to the new measurement system while providing compassionate and effective care. .
One problem is that as the industry is trying to adapt to the evolution of care-based scales, providers and healthcare systems are being bombarded with technological tools aimed at making life easier.
But too many of these devices lack markers, one common reason being that they contain only one of the two essential participants. Digital medical charts, for example, make it easier for physicians to practice tracking and accessing patient data, but can be frustrating if an electronic service provider (HER) is unable to share data with others. Easily.
Or else the reverse happens: smart health devices like the Apple Watch can track all kinds of health-related activities that patients rely on, but most of them cannot be easily transferred to the EHR. What we need to promote better health outcomes is a tool that takes both needs and aspirations. Providers and patients to consider.
The good news is that there are ways designed to do that – while also thinking about the possibilities. Business and technical possibilities as well. It is called Product innovation. In this piece, I will explain how product innovation works in health care and how it leads to better adherence to patient care and ultimately better health outcomes.
What is product innovation?
I know “product innovation” sounds a bit surprising. What it describes is a value system that balances three considerations when creating something new: your preferences. Use business and technical capabilities.
In the context of health care, it means creating a new product (or improving an existing product) in a way that
- The doctor feels good about prescribing them and the patient uses them according to the user’s wishes).
- Businesses have the resources and plans to market and sell products in a way that attracts consumers (business opportunities).
- Products can be maintained and developed by businesses with existing operational infrastructure (technical feasibility).
Perhaps the simplest way to explain how product design differs from traditional methods of creating new products is this: When you embrace product innovation, there is less risk that you will create a product. That is, you will not invest much time and resources in creating something that the user does not accept or that the business can not maintain. In the long run.
In a non-healthcare setting, that is attractive because it means the business can avoid expensive developments for months leading up to somewhere. In healthcare, the stakes are much higher: When you embrace product innovation, you avoid investing in solutions that do not harm the patient’s health (or worse, that actually hurt people).
There are some important principles involved in developing in this way:
- Start with the user. In health care, this means talking to doctors and patients from day one. Without an understanding of the people who can use the product, it is unlikely that we will create something that helps them.
- Re-create. Rather than building everything upside down and embarking on a big process that can succeed or fail, product innovation calls for creating patterns and patterns of increasing loyalty. We share it with users and stakeholders around the business, get feedback and create the next version with that in mind.
- Turn then unify. To have a good idea, you have to have a lot of ideas. An important part of product innovation is happening with the many ways of solving problems, testing the most promising and learning from those tests to get closer to the best.
- Reduce risk when you go. Ongoing feedback from consumers and stakeholders helps us avoid going too far.
Now let’s take a look at some use cases to show how this way of working can deliver digital health products that boost patient adherence and lead to better outcomes.
Accounting for emotions in the treatment of overactive bladder
When we partnered with a digital therapy company to develop products to provide behavioral therapy to people diagnosed with OAB (OAB), we began engaging with potential users, people who There is OAB.
One of the most striking things we noticed during the conversation was that many people started by reassuring us that their OAB symptoms were not a big deal. And then they would tell story after story of these symptoms disrupting their lives.
That prompted a moment for us: we see that people tend to feel a lot of embarrassment about OAB, which is a sign that we need to find ways to reduce that embarrassment in what we have built.
Subsequent sample testing led us to create a chatbot to integrate with digital bladder leak diary. CeCe, a chatbot, uses friendly and non-technical language. The pictures and language of the show are bright, cheerful and true. When users record bladder leaks and the conditions in which they occur, CeCe provides them with context about how many other people with OAB have had similar experiences that alleviate embarrassment by communicating with Consumers say they are not alone. Considering the possibilities, we created the product as a simple web application versus the original application. This work is for beta testing, which will eventually lead to products applying for FDA approval.
Zoom in and the impact is significant: Nearly 50 million people Have at least one chronic pelvic disease, costing more than $ 100 billion a year in treatment. In addition, most people live 4 hours or more from a doctor who can provide specialized treatment. Digital health solutions available on smart devices can dramatically improve symptoms, prevent the progression of conditions, improve patients’ quality of life, and help manage the cost of illness.
Replacing a patient’s memory with data in spinal rehabilitation
The unreliability of memory is Well established. It can be hard to remember the pain, especially when trying to measure the pain you are feeling today compared to the pain you experienced three weeks ago. That makes the job of a chiropractor tricky: An important indicator to follow after spinal surgery is whether the patient’s pain is decreasing.
Without a proper assessment, it is very difficult to know what recovery is going on, what to recommend, and when (and whether) to change courses.
When we talk to chiropractors about monitoring a patient’s recovery, they express a desire for more objective data, both about the patient’s pain and adherence to the rehabilitation protocol. Such as wearing a bone stimulator and getting regular moderate activity.
When we talk to patients who recover from spinal surgery, we find that they often avoid activities during the recovery phase because it causes pain, and they worry that pain is a sign. That they should stop and remain silent.
In fact, moderate activity while in pain at the moment tends to improve healing and lead to less pain in the long run. We used all this information to create a program to connect with postoperative bone stimulation. The device has a built-in accelerometer, so we have developed an app that pulls the daily step count and daily usage and sends users a daily push to assess their pain.
Over time, patients can see their tendency to pain decrease as they use bone stimulants and maintain a regular activity level, which is a strong incentive to continue to adhere to both protocols.
During their follow-up, surgeons can view their data as a PDF, with a glimpse of how they are adhering to and how popular their pain is, and make recommendations based on the data. That.
To create products that users use Create products that users love
It sounds obvious when you say it: a product that consumers like and they are likely to use. In healthcare, that means they are also more likely to adhere to treatment protocols related to those products and thus enjoy better health outcomes.
Product design starts with the end in mind, focusing on developing a product that works for both the patient and the provider who will use it – while also taking into account technical constraints and business goals.
As the health system seeks more effective ways to provide personal care to patients, digital devices and products will no doubt play a greater role in treatment. Acceptance of product innovations will help ensure the efficient use of business resources in development and care, acclaimed acceptance among patients and providers, and overall health outcomes.
