C3LX: A Healthy Dose of Knowledge

Much attention has been given related to the use of telehealth during the COVID-19 pandemic, usually focused from the provider and care delivery side.  The article below takes a different view and summarizes research done by PwC looking at changes in consumer behaviors and attitudes towards telehealth as a result of COVID-19.  Some of the interesting findings included the following:

One of the core values that we strive to live by at C3LX is “Inspired Solutions”.  For us, this means applied innovation, collaborative process, insatiable curiosity, and products designed to make a difference.  Often, as this Harvard Business Review article poignantly points out, technologists tend to see themselves as the solution rather than contributors to the solution.  With founders that come from a healthcare background, we understand that our role is to partner with and empower the innovative health system delivery models like Direct Primary Care, not disrupt them.  “Technology alone won’t save us from Covid-19 or create the pandemic-resilient health system we need.”

In this rapidly changing time, we are starting to see more attention placed on making sure those individuals with chronic conditions or rising risk don’t fall through the cracks in terms of ongoing chronic disease management and treatment adherence.  Telemedicine options have definitely provided some alternatives for patients who would have normally seen their physician in person for ongoing care check-ins, but according to some recent patient survey data in the article below, telemedicine isn’t able to entirely account for this new-found gap in care.  Patients and physicians alike are looking for technologies that blend remote patient monitoring, adherence to care plans and communication tools into one platform, all while bringing these disparate data points together into digestible and meaningful information.  Take a look at the article and share your thoughts with us!

Continuing our conversations with front line physicians and experts in Telehealth offerings, we recently spoke with Dr. Ted Palen, Board certified Internist and Board certified in Clinical Informatics.  Dr. Palen shared with us his thoughts on the opportunity to provide chronic disease management virtually, the importance of capturing a variety of patient generated health data elements and how to effectively bring that data back to physicians in meaningful and actionable dashboards.  Check out more of Dr. Palen’s insights in the full interview below.

As part of our look into how primary care and health systems are adapting during the COVID-19 pandemic, we had the great privilege to sit down (virtually of course!) and talk with Dr. Clint Flanagan, Healthcare Pioneer, CEO, and Founder of Nextera Healthcare.  Dr. Flanagan is an influential leader and pioneer of Direct Primary Care (DPC), a model delivering superior value and improved health to individual patients and employers alike.  We got the chance to hear from Dr. Flanagan regarding how Nextera and their patients were in a perfect position to thrive in a virtual care world, how they utilize telehealth tools, and the attributes of the DPC Model that strengthen patient-provider relationships in ways that deliver superior health outcomes.  Check out more of Dr. Flanagan’s insights in the full interview below.

The gaps in our healthcare system continue to be laid bare during this COVID-19 crisis. Health Leaders Media focuses on two very important gaps in the current telehealth offerings.

1. We tend to think of utilizing telehealth to treat patients that have the virus or who may have the virus. For higher risk patients with chronic conditions, this is not enough.  They need continued care for their underlying conditions and a way for their providers, extremely busy with COVID-19 patients, to quickly see how their higher risk patients are doing with established care plans and goals. 
2. As telehealth services rapidly ramp up, providers are being overwhelmed with the sheer volume of virtual visits. These tools must include algorithms and analyses that take patient generated health data and help providers quickly identify patients needing immediate intervention, those who need a physician’s attention, and what more specific action is needed. 

We agree and would add that patient engagement solutions should not only be the focus during crisis, but an essential component of daily healthcare practice.

We are continuing our conversation concerning the rapidly evolving role of digital health & primary care capacity during this period of enormous changes unfolding as a result of COVID-19. Today, we are sharing an older and particularly relevant article highlighting an important factor often lost during a crisis like this current pandemic. The oft overlooked factor is the actual relationship between the patient and the providers, how important the relationship is for improving health, especially during times like these where healthcare delivery and access is even more fragmented and transactional given the incredible surges in volume. 

In these tense times, Digital Health and Telehealth services can be an integral piece of the puzzle towards keeping people safe and maintaining social distance while allowing patients access to the medical resources they need and giving care providers actionable information about their patients. More and more states are clearing barriers to access for these services as a viable resource for patients in need.  We at C3LX support the much needed expansion of Digital Health offerings, and we also believe that these technology solutions need to support continuity of care and patient-provider relationships, not merely transactions where care goals, underlying conditions and pre-existing conditions have to be repeated each time.

A well-known deficiency in our current healthcare system is access to affordable primary care providers that patients know and trust, and who know them.  At C3LX, we believe that under our current Covid-19 situation, the statement about “know and trust, and who know them” is of utmost importance.  Two issues already presenting during this Covid-19 outbreak are the unnecessary use of the ED by patients lacking affordable primary care access (causing delays for the patients that absolutely need to be in the ED), and the lack of patient knowledge and care continuity when a patient uses a telehealth service that links to a provider who has never worked with the patient before.  Digital and telehealth can add much needed capacity for primary care practices, but these technical offerings need to support continuity of care and relationships, not merely transactions where care goals, underlying conditions and pre-existing conditions have to be repeated each time.