Introduction
The entire world is moving away from cumbersome, slow, and physically-restricted paper-based patient records to integrated systems of communication between the patient, the insurer, and the provider. Digitalization of healthcare in the US has been going on for over a decade and has achieved great gains in making sure electronic records are maintained and readily available throughout the existing hospitals and centers (Tenney & Sieber, 2016).
At the same time, the patient-service connection has been lagging behind. In order to find the necessary information on their treatments, available choices, hospitals, doctors, and benefits, a patient has to access over a dozen different sites, which are not easily found or navigated through. As a result, the levels of communication between customers, providers, and insurers remain low. However, some services seek to offer a unified platform to do so and improve the transparency, speed, and understanding of such for all parties (Tenney & Sieber, 2016). This paper will review two telehealth initiatives by Nanthealth, called Eviti and NaviNet.
What is Nanthealth Eviti?
Nanthealth Eviti is a digital product meant to connect patients and healthcare providers in order to treat cancer effectively (“Nanthealth Eviti,” n.d.). Cancer is one of the most dangerous diseases on the planet, curing which requires significant research, resources, and expertise in order to succeed. Eviti seeks to remove some of the barriers between the two parties, by offering a large evidence-based library that could be used to guide treatment options and decision-making (“Nanthealth Eviti,” n.d.).
The program makes it possible for patients and clinicians alike to review their treatment plan, access reimbursement options, and understand how the money is spent, how much could be reclaimed, and how long will it take. All of the necessary information about the patients as well as providers can be accessed through the system (“Nanthealth Eviti,” n.d.). Therefore, Eviti is not only a useful treatment instrument but a way for doctors, patients, and insurers to communicate without expending too much energy or resources, as most of what is needed can already be accessed here.
Eviti is comprised of two functional assets, which are titled Eviti Advisor and Eviti Connect. Eviti Advisor is largely a clinician tool, which allows reviewing the patient’s data and utilizing an evidence-based approach to come up with solutions to various problems (“Nanthealth Eviti,” n.d.).
Many doctors do not have the access to various libraries and articles at their fingertips, forcing them to implement same-old approaches without varying their options based on the evidence, guidelines, and discoveries. Eviti Advisor allows the doctor to effectively broaden their horizons and shape treatment in accordance with their professional acumen and the patient’s desires. Eviti Connect, on the other hand, offers the patient a clear view of prices, benefits, time, and necessity of the available treatment plans, allowing for budget planning and participation in treatment (“Nanthealth Eviti,” n.d.).
What is Nanthealth NaviNet?
Nanthealth NaviNet is a platform that serves both as a directory for all relevant personalized healthcare information for patients as well as the marketplace of offers for providers (“Nanthealth NaviNet,” n.d.). Nowadays, customers have a plethora of choices available to them based on their insurance, personal preferences, religious beliefs, and economic availability. Typically, deciding on the best solution, and the best provider, requires collaboration between patients and doctors and superior research on what options are open for specific ailments and conditions.
NaviNet allows sharing administrative and health data between the parties in order to decide on what course of action would be the most beneficial to the patient, thus achieving better results in value-centered care (“Nanthealth NaviNet,” n.d.). In addition, they allow reviewing progress in real-time, which enables all parties to offer changes as needed.
NaviNet has many options that are available for providers and customers alike, depending on what kind of data they wish to work with. NaviNet Open is effectively an online tool meant to replace telephone calls by providing real-time communication between patients and providers, sharing relevant health data documents, and serving as a CRM tool. It helps minimize the time spent on complaints. Drug Authorization options check the needed medical lists, providers viable alternatives, and offers lists of places where they could be purchased at the cheapest and most convenient. All-Payer Access, Medicare Access, and All-Payer Plus help assess eligibility, claim, and benefit statuses for various different healthcare programs and insurance options.
How Do These Technologies Work?
The primary commodity for both nurses and patients is time (Rasche et al., 2017). With doctors being constantly under pressure and overworked, they cannot offer more than 15 minutes per patient a day. For patients, seeing their doctor would require traveling to the office and waiting in lines, or settling for a telephone operator, which is not always equipped with the right knowledge and instruments to make accurate healthcare decisions, further reducing the utility of such council. Eviti and NaviNet effectively remove these barriers, allowing for more efficient planning normally available through physical attendance from the comfort of one’s office or home (“Nanthealth NaviNet,” n.d.). The quality of interaction, information, and decision-making processes improves the value of care received.
Focus on real-time data will transform the existing medicine and further improve the quality of care provided to the patients (Rasche et al., 2017). As it was already mentioned, the efficiency of providers will increase – the waiting rooms will be occupied only by patients who cannot solve their problems virtually. As it stands, the majority of visits are dedicated to administrative and planning problems that could be done online.
New payment models will emerge that would focus on the results as per the real-time successes and milestones rather than the treatments themselves. It would reduce customer expenditures while motivating the doctors to provide results instead of endless strings of prescriptions that achieve next to little (Rasche et al., 2017). Finally, the digitalization of the relationship between the parties would help new service providers and software developers rise and compete with each other. Competition would significantly improve the quality of software and services, further improving patient outcomes.
Technology had, over the course of history, transformed the face of healthcare into what we know and use today (Rasche et al., 2017). Without a doubt, it will continue to do so in the 21st century. The digitalization of records and the prevalence of online patient-provider-insurer communication would significantly reduce the number of people waiting in hospitals and free up nurses to take care of individuals in actual need of treatment. The abundance of technology would give rise to the relevance of medical technicians and IT specialists meant to keep the networks in working order. At the same time, the existing healthcare system would be strongly tied to the supply chains that provide the equipment, making it more reliant on the general welfare of the society as well as the world economy (Rasche et al., 2017).
As it stands, a good number of practicing nurses and physicians spend most of their day receiving patients that arrive and dealing with their problems, big or small, within the standard 15-20 minute window (Rasche et al., 2017). In many cases, the arrival does not warrant travel to the hospital, which takes the patient’s and the doctor’s time. In the future, online care would be developed enough for the majority of questions and health records to be shared online, enabling a greater availability of telehealth methods that would not require travel while being as efficient, cheap, and transparent (Tenney & Sieber, 2016).
A negative example of increased digitalization is the vulnerability to hacking and cybersecurity threats. With all of the records being moved to clouds and servers, it would be possible for 3rd parties to gain access to them or even shut down entire facilities that do not have sufficient protection (Rasche et al., 2017). In addition, significant damage to infrastructure would be able to paralyze the system.
Conclusion
Digitalization of healthcare is inevitable. Although it comes with certain drawbacks in terms of sustainability, the number of resources and time saved significantly outweighs any potential issues. Nanthealth Evity and NaviNet are some of the first tools to emerge in the market that would unify and systemize the existing information and infographic into a singular unified extension. Patients, doctors, and insurers will be able to work together to optimize health, bring forth results-driven reimbursements, and help improve the time and cost-efficiency of provided care. Money saved would reduce the economic burdens on patients, and help towards environmental sustainability.
Reference
Nanthealth Eviti. (n.d.). Web.
Rasche, C., Margaria, T., & Floyd, B. D. (2017). Service business model innovation in healthcare and hospital management. Springer, Cham.
Tenney, M., & Sieber, R. (2016). Data-driven participation: Algorithms, cities, citizens, and corporate control. Urban Planning, 1(2), 101-113.