In the latest episode of This Week in Health Tech, Vik and Jimmy are joined by Dr. Brett Oliver, Chief Medical Information Office for Baptist Health Kentucky and Indiana. The trio discuss telehealth, eVisits, and how COVID has impacted digital transformation and cultural changes.
Here is what they discussed:
- “Why is there a rise/spike in COVID cases?”
- The group start off the episode discussing the rising number of COVID cases. Dr. Oliver indicates the main factors for this are due to Delta variant’s high transmission rate along with rural areas having low vaccination rates. Rural facilities are being overwhelmed with cases, and they cannot transfer patients to larger facilities because larger facilities are overwhelmed as well.
- “Are you hearing any feedback or concerns from patients when it comes to virtual care?”
- COVID has definitely accelerated the shift towards virtual care. Vik asks how patients/providers feel about the virtual care being provided now and what the future holds for virtual care. Dr. Oliver states that the feedback they have received so far has been very positive. Virtual care is a great advantage for patients that are unable to visit a location easily. Being able to provide care virtually reduces the burden put on patients. Prior to COVID, Baptist Health had already implement virtual care for urgent care and eVisits. When it comes to providing virtual care for the future, Dr. Oliver emphasizes improving asynchronous remote visits, convenience, safety and utilization.
- “Do you think the cultural shift towards virtual care is too soon or is this the right time?”
- As the digital transformation is accelerated due to COVID, Jimmy poses the question whether this is the right time or not for this shift. Vik states that this is the right time, however he also indicates that we could go from a very basic experience to a very overwhelming experience, where patients have to choose from hundreds of apps which could again defeat the purpose of digital transformation. Dr. Oliver agrees and talks about having a process in place so that patients know exactly which app to use. Another concern Dr. Oliver brings up is the issue with patient data and interoperability.
- “Even today in 2021, interoperability is still a main topic”
- Vik and Dr. Oliver discuss how interoperability is a main focus moving forward with digital transformation. For the patient, being able to access your own data directly is a huge step in providing better and more reliable healthcare. Dr. Oliver talks about gaps in interoperability when it comes to post-acute care, such as nursing homes or rehabilitation centers. They also discuss how CMS/ONC is pushing for better interoperability with Patient/Provider FHIR APIs.
- “How do you feel about A.I. in terms of healthcare?”
- Both Vik and Dr. Oliver give their thoughts and opinions on the future of A.I.. Vik agrees with Dr. Oliver that it is too soon to integrate A.I. in terms of providing better healthcare. The duo then discusses using A.I. in terms of analytics.
Listen to the full episode:
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