First Pst after migration to Cloud in Health care Blog

As COVID-19 cases climb in the U.S., healthcare providers are strategizing on ways to prioritize testing for specific patient populations and determine overall treatment plans. Already, the world has identified that people age 65 and older, and those with underlying medical conditions, are more susceptible to severe symptoms from the coronavirus. Another group who could be at greater risk? Those individuals with barriers to health, like social determinants. Social determinants of health (SDOH) are the non-medical factors of healthcare that account for up to 80 percent of health outcomes. When patients struggle with access to care or access to medication, they’re less likely to follow treatment plans or show up to important follow-up visits. In the case of the coronavirus, some providers are now considering SDOH to flag particular data fields in an attempt to identify patients with access to care challenges, specifically where a remote health service or telehealth option would be especially helpful. Drive-thru coronavirus testing sites are popping up across the country, and healthcare facilities in all states are encouraging individuals to leverage telehealth solutions instead of flooding sites with in-person visits. SDOH screening could assist in proactively identifying individuals who need to be routed to different care channels. Consider the following: Patients screened for testing may live outside of driving distance to a hospital or clinic. Should these individuals be guided to a different testing option or alternative location? Some people screened for a test might live alone, without a vehicle, and are unable or unwilling to walk to a testing location. Those with symptoms are discouraged from using public transit, so is at-home testing a better option?Additionally, those who live alone without a vehicle may need a proactive check-in to ensure they have no untested symptoms. Could that help prevent a 911 call and additional stress on the emergency department? Proactively screening a patient population by  “access to care” data could enable a provider to  expand its coronavirus care strategy and consider information that might mitigate future surges in coronavirus cases and ED and clinic visits. Giving attention to patients or members with non-clinical needs and pairing them with the right engagement strategy before they require an escalated response can have a positive impact on clinical services. “Integrating SDOH data into clinical systems is something providers are just beginning to do, but the response required by COVID-19 presents an opportunity to accelerate that,” said Karly Rowe, Vice President of Product Development for Experian Health. “Identifying at-risk patients who may need help tapping into personalized screening and treatment options could help providers quickly suggest the ideal course of action for individuals, and at the same time conserve resources and contribute to the safety of staff and the larger community.” It’s early days of COVID-19, but data will certainly be a differentiator in managing the first pandemic in the 21st century. “Speed, efficiency and accuracy are critical in situations like what healthcare professionals are facing today,” said Rowe. “Innovative use of data is a big part of delivering on those.”

They used to be little more than clunky messaging platforms, but today, patient portals are the key to a frictionless digital healthcare experience. Consumers can check their medical records and test results with a few clicks. They can schedule appointments, pay bills and renew prescriptions whenever they want. Shifting patient information to portals also increases staff productivity and smooths out several sticking points in the revenue cycle. And with improvements in engagement and efficiency leading to better health outcomes, no wonder 90% of healthcare organizations are putting portals at the heart of the patient experience. But these benefits aren’t without risks. Privacy and security are big concerns for consumers and organizations alike. Patients want to feel reassured their data is safe, while providers want to avoid any reputation-killing headlines about data breaches. Identification and authentication can’t be too complicated though, or the patient experience will suffer. The safest strategy is to use a risk-based multi-layered approach, including identity proofing, fraud management, device recognition and even biometrics. Different levels of security checks can be applied, depending on the likelihood of the person being an imposter. If the information being accessed is particularly sensitive, or when the log-in information doesn’t quite add up, your system should trigger additional checks, such as identity proofing questions. But what are the right questions to ask? The right questions balance risk, trust and proportionality There’s no point seeking security information that could be easily guessed, obtained through a quick Google search or stolen from a patient’s wallet. You need questions only the true consumer would be able to answer – “out of wallet” questions, or knowledge-based authentication. This means the traditional “mother’s surname” question would not be a great choice, as it’s easily discoverable by potential fraudsters. Better questions might relate to the consumer’s city of birth, first car model, first pet’s name or previous address. Of course, these identifiers could still be obtained by nefarious parties, but when used in combination with other identity proofing tactics, it’s a significantly reduced risk. The sweet spot lies in the difference between the consumer’s ability to answer correctly and that of a potential fraudster. Your questions should also be relevant to the consumer and appropriate to the context. For example, a common out-of-wallet question used by financial institutions is to confirm a recent transaction. This ticks the box for security, as only the true consumer would likely know the answer, but in the context of a healthcare portal it could seem odd and out of place. It might make the patient wary and actually do more harm than good in terms of building trust. Progressive questioning lets you use smart logic to select a range of appropriate, varied questions, rotated over time and layered up for additional checks when a certain threshold of risk is perceived. In this way, the patient experience will be flexible, seamless and reassuring, without the burden of excessive admin. How Sutter Health System used better questions to increase enrollment and reduce help desk contacts With around 1.8 million patients actively enrolled, Sutter Health System wanted to offer easy access to their self-service portal, but without accidentally giving anyone access to someone else’s information. They had no true identity proofing process for patients, which led to cumbersome checks, errors and high numbers of calls to the help desk. Introducing the PreciseID® identity-proofing tool meant the team could authenticate users more quickly and reliably, using knowledge-based questions without an arduous process. Now, patients have just four or five simple questions to answer, which are checked against a robust dataset. An online risk assessment verifies the patient’s device and determines whether additional checks are required, balancing security with convenience. Tom Mitchell, Applications Manager at Sutter Health System Office describes working in partnership with Experian Health to find the right set of questions: “It took about a month to really hone in on the types of questions and the frequency of questions needed to achieve a level of accuracy that would equate to properly identified patients. You need to select what is important to you and Experian will work with you to make sure you ask the right questions.” Not only has this increased the number of positive patient matches, it’s also reduced the number of people trying to contact the help desk with password issues. Tom says: “We’re always trying to reduce the number of contacts to the help desk. Before integrating with self-service enrollment, patients would have to fill out a paper form or call our contact center, in which case a live person would have to go through some validation processes of our own. It was a fairly cumbersome, long process without this piece of validation.” Find out more about how PreciseID could help you ask the right questions for better portal protection.

COVID-19 is beginning to stress the healthcare system, and typical protocols are being upended. But health systems and medical groups are already rising to the challenge of getting patients tested while, at the same time, prioritizing the protection of their communities and staffs. Below are some solutions being implemented: Online screening Many providers are tapping into online scheduling solutions, responding to the COVID-19 crisis with simple splash pages. Posting questions that screen for symptoms can channel patients seeking testing/treatment for COVID-19 down a specific pathway to get the care they need. Those who need other types of care can still book through the solution, directing them to the right provider and appointment. Screening paths allow access to be prioritized and managed accordingly. Mobile testing Providers are also using mobile test units. These enable providers to administer more tests in a geographically diverse manner, without having to expose their internal clinic and hospital environments to contagion. Patients can simply drive through and receive a test while remaining in their car. Some health systems are combining this with online scheduling, allowing patients to schedule appointment slots for testing. This helps manage the flow of patients, reducing call center volume. Health plans are also modifying Some health plans are taking a similar approach, using mobile testing units and a call center scheduling platform to book testing appointment slots for members. Likewise, they can send a link enabling members to self-schedule for a testing slot via text message or email. This type of proactive member engagement to vulnerable populations is key to reducing the impact on Emergency Departments, while helping diagnose individuals so they can get the care they need. Call center operations Call centers are being overwhelmed with volume – and there is more to come. New methodologies to handle the response are complementing normal operations. Some providers have started to publish a dedicated line for COVID-19 calls that connects to a separate call center pod. Others have quickly added scheduling protocols in the scheduling system to route patients to the right care, or mobile-testing unit, based on responses to the questions agents ask. By automating the Q&A in the platform, patients are guided to the right care, and agents need minimal training to assure accuracy. As the number of COVID-19 cases continues to grow in the U.S., more tactics will be introduced to streamline scheduling, testing and care. Technology will certainly be one key lever for healthcare providers to better serve their communities and keep patients and staff safe.