Healthcare’s Next Frontier: Building a Fully Connected Experience

1) Improve longitudinal care: More than $4 trillion — an astounding 90% of total healthcare expenditures in the United States — is spent each year to treat individuals with chronic and mental health conditions. Cost-effective management of these conditions requires that members become active and ongoing participants in their own healthcare. Research also shows that people with both mental health and chronic care conditions benefit from care coordination through improved health outcomes, reduced healthcare costs, better medication adherence, and increased self-management. A fully connected, end-to-end healthcare experience transforms care from a series of disconnected and episodic transactions to a longitudinal relationship between the consumer and the healthcare system. It provides much greater access to immediate care with one-click access to a nurse whenever health concern or troubling symptom arises. It guides, informs, and motivates members in real time to engage in the next best step to better health. Members experiencing high stress levels, for example, could receive personalized reminders and timely nudges to engage in mindfulness exercises or breathing exercises, earning rewards as they track their progress. They might also get contacted by a personal health coach or nurse to see if they would be interested in scheduling an appointment with an available behavioral therapist. 

2) Deliver on-demand access to primary care: Almost a third of all Americans do not have a primary care provider (PCP). That’s more than 100 million people who lack the resources to prevent or manage chronic conditions and to identify risk factors that could lead to serious conditions. This is a “medically disenfranchised” population that often does not seek medical attention when a medical issue arises. And when they do, it’s often the ER. But today, there are now digital health solutions that can select the right PCP for each member and then coordinate a telemedicine or in-person appointment. Providing 24/7 access to an on-demand care team to anyone who has a mobile phone or internet access creates a “direct line” to primary care that overcomes transportation barriers, long wait times (26 days for a new patient), scheduling issues and other obstacles to care. It takes almost no effort now for members to seek care and start building a relationship with a provider. 

3) Make it personal: Advanced data collection and analysis capabilities and the sophistication of AI chatbots by GenAI are creating a new level of personalization that precisely matches content, incentives, and motivation to each member’s wellbeing goals, preferences, and needs. Higher personalization generates higher engagement, which decreases the cost of care. Personalized proactive care engagement, such as push notifications and real-time alerts for post-visit summaries, aftercare follow-ups, and upcoming appointments keep members informed and engaged. In doing so, support comes to the member, instead of the member having to seek out support.