A video recently released by Advisory Board titled, “Consumerism – what it means for you” highlighted the coming wave of consumerism in healthcare, indicating that those without strategies in place to meet consumer demands may be in trouble. The video outlined three things that are going to really matter to patients:
- Price – as patients assume higher deductibles and out of pocket costs, they are going to paying closer attention to what things cost
- Access – innovators are creating new transparency tools and providing actionable insight into costs and quality and consumers will be interested
- Performance – if you can deliver real solutions for consumer problems, you will do well in the market
These factors are probably even more important to cancer patients where the stakes are high and the costs are a difficult burden for most. Cancer care providers who are going to thrive will not be able to continue on business as usual. They are facing dual pressures of consumer demands and the new regulatory requirements of value-based care.
Since Navigating Cancer’s oncology-specific software platform is built around patients, it can put providers a few steps ahead of the rest. The platform not only facilitates great care, it enables transparency and, ultimately, improves patient satisfaction. It all starts with coordinated, patient-centered care which results in lower costs and better outcomes. In a recent blog post we looked at this topic through the lens of the CAHPS survey and much what’s important there is still true when looking through the lens of consumerism – access to information and education, shared-decision making, coordinated care, communication between visits and more. Our patient-focused platform, Navigating Care, is designed to meet patient expectations at a lower cost in a way no other platform is:
- Customized to each patient. Whether it’s delivering diagnosis- and treatment-specific educational information, monitoring medication adherence, or helping a patient manage a side effect using a symptom pathway – each patient gets a personalized experience that is tailored to their needs and preferences.
- Supports patients in a holistic way. Navigating Care gives the patient easy access to an ecosystem of support. They can use simple digital tools to report things like side effects or depression and know their care team has been alerted. They can join a community of patients who are going through the same thing to find support and share experiences. They can include their caregivers, family and friends to make it easier to get help they need. And they can always contact Support at Navigating Care for help troubleshooting any issue they may have with the platform.
- Facilitates coordination and organization. Both the patient and the care team have the same view of the patient’s care – they are able to stay on the same page so nothing gets missed. The patient has a central place where they can access all of their information and stay informed and the care team knows what’s going on with a patient so they can provide a more seamless experience, provide extra support to the most high risk patients and make sure the patient is receiving care and support they need.
Patients – as consumers – expect to know what’s going. They want an informed care team who can help them right when they need it and they want to have the tools they need to successfully complete treatment. If you want to learn more about Navigating Care and how it puts the patient at the center of their care, contact us today!