Why patient-centred digital systems are revolutionising healthcare

Traditionally, healthcare data has centred around clinicians and institutions who largely controlled patient interaction. Lately, however, there has been a shift to consumer-centred systems. This is enabling patients to interact with health professionals and get involved in their own care, leading to greater engagement, improved outcomes and increased satisfaction.

The speakers at the “Transforming the patient experience through a modernised journey-led approach” webinar were A/Prof Clair Sullivan, Head, University of Queensland Digital Health Network; Kristi Roe, Head of Healthcare Experience, Medallia; and A/Prof Low Cheng Ooi, Chief Technology Officer, Sheares Healthcare Group. The session was moderated by Andrew Pearce, Senior Digital Health Strategist, Analytics, HIMSS.   

“It starts with feeling heard and I think that’s just been a big miss. I think when they are in live interactions, they feel heard… And so by leveraging technology, you listen at scale,” said Roe.

A/Prof Sullivan believes technology improves patient engagement: “I am desperately trying to use digital technology to empower patients, to let them learn about their own disease, to democratise the management of chronic illness, so that they themselves can manage their condition in an effective way that gives them a good experience and relieves the burden on an already stretched system. I think it is an exciting time as we democratise the data.”

According to Roe, digital systems can now enable providers to see entire patient journeys, delivering real-time actionable insights. She said the patient journey can be broadened, by going deeper, and by working in real-time to resolve or repair patient experiences and identify friction points among diverse populations. She added that legacy patient experience data and surveys were no longer fit for purpose.

A/Prof Low outlined ways to create positive patient experiences. He said they should be offered physical and virtual access to medical advice, along with Primary and Specialist care, if necessary, with minimal waiting times. Clinical quality, good outcomes, and value for money were seen as essential too, as was easily accessible Information.  

He said: “If you are looking at it from an administration point of view, the value and delivery of care has to take into account the providers too, because you need to provide the right kind of information so that the healthcare practitioners delivering care are also optimised, and their time is optimised; they are more efficient and more productive. Being in that state creates a positive experience and they can pass that onto the patient.”

While A/Prof Sullivan welcomes improvements to patient care, she would also like to see earlier intervention: “We’ve invested in in the very, very sickest patients, but I suspect we’ll get more value out of investing in the data of precision prevention in the well community… so instead of fixing them when they come to us broken, we keep them out of acute care.” 

Get all the insights from the webinar here.