The Future of Care is Collaborative

By Pranam Ben, founder & CEO, The Garage

Leading with Data to Build a New, Collaborative Community Care Model

In just two years' time, the healthcare industry has shifted and evolved at an accelerated pace, perhaps more so than any other time in recorded history. Born out of challenge and necessity, providers, patients and payers alike have embraced the digitalization of healthcare, with telehealth and telemedicine serving as important entry-points to digital care. As we continue to progress on this digital path, we have the opportunity to build a self-sustaining community health ecosystem that is predictive, preventative, personalized and participatory. And to do so, we must take the next step and lead with knowledge - the kind that can only be collected and interpreted through health systems that make a commitment to not only being digital-first, but also data-first.

Research has shown that a collaborative approach to care, in general, leads to better outcomes for patients and for the providers and payers who support them. A good example of this is the Collaborative Care Model, which integrates behavioral health and general medical services, building mental well-being into the overall picture of a patient's health. Since implementing this approach over a decade ago, the American Psychiatric Association and the Academy of Psychosomatic Medicine have found that the collaborative approach to care has demonstrated the greatest effectiveness and efficiency for controlling costs, as well as improving access, clinical outcomes and patient satisfaction.

At The Garage, we are helping to build a healthcare system where value-based care is intrinsic and collaborative community care is the key to making this a reality. But it cannot happen without placing data and analytics front and center. A data-first approach means we must commit to the amalgamation of centralized data, decentralized intelligence and a ubiquitous user-centric platform that connects patients, providers and payers.

• Foster a 24/7 engaged population with the individual in the driver's seat;
• Be decoupled from but empower all risk models;
• Create a self-sustaining community health ecosystem that's predictive, preventative, personalized and participatory;
• Include value-based referrals and clinically integrated networks that are consensual - not transactional;
• Enable real-time, rich data sharing between public and private entities; and
• Allow for equitable participation of care teams.

Putting the Patient in the Driver's Seat
A technology-based platform that places an individual in the driver's seat of their own care is crucial to improving health outcomes. Effectively engaging patients in their care means providing the tools they need to understand their health risks, how to remain healthy, and establishing open lines of communication for healthcare concerns that may arise. Patients need to feel empowered to make informed decisions regarding their own care, and maintaining a 24/7 engaged population intrinsically motivates them to more closely adhere to provider recommendations.

Enabling Providers to Manage More Risk
When increasing patient engagement, it's important to first provide accurate and relevant information to the individual. This is accomplished through quality data that delivers a more comprehensive view of each patient's unique situation and, in turn, enables providers and payers to better manage risk and provide more individualized care. With intelligent data readily available, providers benefit from having a holistic view of their patients and general population.

Across the healthcare industry, the demand for a patient-centric approach is growing and, as a result, so is the need for greater access to predictive and preventive measures that improve patient outcomes. To actualize the goals of value-based care, providers need the ability to identify gaps in care and coordinate with other care team members to manage their patients' specific needs. Focusing on the digitalization of healthcare allows providers to conveniently access the patient and the patient's information; the collection and analysis of said data then leads to better care.

Turning Payers into Partners
Under value-based care models, payers and providers work cohesively to achieve the shared goal of better patient care and lower costs. However, payers don't always have access to accurate and up-to-date digital records, which leads to misalignment, misinformation and, subsequently, less-than-optimal care. This disconnect can result in distrust between patients, providers and payers, revealing an essential need for an integrated exchange of patient data and information.

Investing in analytics to manage clinical care and claims is critical. Access to data provides greater transparency when measuring and recording an organization's performance, eliminates duplicative care, fosters more effective collaboration and better identifies at-risk patients.

Figure 1- Collaborative Community Care Ps - Patients | CTs - Care Teams | CPs - Care Partners | CAs - Care Administrators | CRs - Care Researchers

Leveraging Data for Better Care
Creating an effective Collaborative Community Care Model really boils down to connecting patients, providers and payers through data. With the right population health management platform in place, it is possible to facilitate real-time rich data sharing between all stakeholders in care, as well as draw out insights to better care for individuals, improve health for populations and, ultimately, lower costs. Collaborative community care is about telling the full story of care, and connecting the dots on all aspects of health management through data aggregation and advanced functionality - streamlining information gathering and reporting as a result.

Aligning patients, providers and payers leads to more consensual care rather than transactional interactions, which is key to value-based care (VBC). Implementing an integrated model enables providers to refer patients to the right providers at the right time for the right care - building stronger trust within the entire healthcare ecosystem.

Creating a Collaborative Community Care Model brings all medical professionals together to provide patient care while helping to close communication gaps and reduce overall medical care costs. At a time when physician burnout is peaking, collaboration helps healthcare professionals more efficiently use their time.

A digital-first and data-first Collaborative Community Care Model is the future of care, and leads to better outcomes for patients, providers and payers alike.

About the author
Pranam Ben has always been an innovator. Over the course of his 20+ year career, Pranam has found much success in the Healthcare Informatics world and The Garage has been no different. Pranam has been behind the vision, design and architecture of cutting-edge, award-winning software products while being directly responsible for running businesses for large corporations. A problem solver by nature, The Garage has allowed Pranam to develop solutions to resolve some of healthcare's biggest challenges. For more information, email pben@thegaragein.com or visit www.TheGarage.health.