Achieving Holistic Care Through Effective Digital Health

March 22, 2021 - Estimates vary, but current thinking holds that traditional healthcare in the US impacts between 10 and 20 percent of an individual's overall health, with genetics, behavior, and social and environmental factors playing more significant roles than formerly appreciated. For healthcare organizations to provide the most effective and holistic care to individuals and populations, the focus must broaden to identify and address these factors.

The past year has been eye-opening for the healthcare industry. The shift from a predominantly in-person culture to one where virtual care interactions are mainstream has enabled providers to continue to support patients while minimizing risk. But at the same time, it has shone a light on health and care disparities tied to the ability of individuals to access care and resources from their homes. What has been easy for some has proved onerous for others.

There has been long standing recognition in healthcare on the impact of meaningful and trusting relationships between care providers and health plan members and its effect on positive behaviors and outcomes. The past year has only amplified the value of those healthcare relationships, particularly as the reliance on digital and virtual health engagement and management has become more pervasive.

Enter mobile-based digital health platforms. When properly designed, these solutions can foster more equitable access to care and support, facilitate and enhance those valuable provider-member relationships, and pave the way toward greater health awareness and prevention.

"We know that mobile usage spans demographics and is relatively agnostic to age, race, and socioeconomic status. Because it’s such a ubiquitous tool, it makes sense to use it as a channel for healthcare support and guidance," says Wellframe Chief Medical Officer Sandhya Gardner, MD.

"Plans are increasingly leveraging digital solutions, particularly mobile, to meet people where they are and arm them with easy to access information that can improve their health literacy and empower them to become better advocates for their own care."

Mobile is an obvious starting point for digital health engagement. That said, not all digital health platforms are created equal. According to Gardner, these solutions are most effective when they possess key characteristics to support improved health experience and outcomes: convenience, adaptability, intuitiveness, utility, personalization, and approachability.

What's more, these characteristics depend on the unique needs of individuals as they move through their care experience.

"Health is a dynamic journey as people constantly move in and out of varying levels of risk, acuity, and needs throughout their lifetimes," Gardner explains. "Keeping that top of mind is critical to developing anything from a specific, targeted clinical program to a more general health management solution. A successful digital health platform offers a way to support the natural ebb and flow of member needs."

When a health plan member experiences a significant life event, their needs are likely to evolve. Similarly, throughout an individual's life, they will face various health risks and challenges, which could end up being episodic or chronic in nature.

An effective digital health platform must account for these variations and be designed with a long view in mind.

"High-risk, high-acuity members often benefit from engaging in longitudinal programs that are high touch, and from receiving robust and active management and clinical support,” Gardner notes. "Supporting the full risk population requires an understanding of the way that lower-risk, healthier members prefer to interact and engage with information. These populations may derive greater value from autonomy and the ability to self-manage their own health, making it important to also offer on-demand and lighter touch interactions that deliver targeted and concise healthcare information."

With business and school closures due to the coronavirus, the past twelve months have disrupted many people's personal and professional lives and routines, hammering home the need for healthcare organizations to approach comprehensive care differently.

"Health isn't just about medical diagnoses or the needs that surround them. There's so much more to each member, each patient. That includes their behavioral health needs and their social determinants, which play an enormous role in understanding and caring for the whole person,” Gardner emphasizes.

To effectively support a member’s access to this holistic, comprehensive care, health plans must consider differences in health literacy and language preference among their beneficiaries.

"Low health literacy is connected to higher rates of hospitalization, to lower utilization of preventative care resources, and higher use of the emergency room," says Gardner. "When members have information that's easy for them to understand and available in their preferred language, it will be easier for members to start managing and advocating for their own care."

By positioning themselves as partners, health plans can build impactful relationships with members that make healthcare simpler.

"When health plans communicate with tools that members use in their daily lives, it creates a familiarity and approachability that makes the whole process easier. They can build the kind of trust that allows members to ask questions they might not otherwise be willing to raise over the telephone or face-to-face," Gardner adds.

Empowering members will go a long way toward mitigating many pandemic-related health risks as the US economy slowly reopens.

"We'll see the long-term impact of the pandemic for years to come," Gardner notes. "Plans have a unique role to play — to have a relationship outside the four walls of traditional care delivery and access to members such that they can proactively identify and reach out to them to ensure they have the right information, are receiving appropriate resources and care, and can mitigate avoidable complications down the line."

"One of the most exciting aspects of what we do is that we are able to provide an educational platform that offers a range of content and formats for members across the population. The key is being able to help members understand  both the ‘what’ and the  ‘why,’ so they also become champions and advocates for the prevention, care, and outcomes they deserve. Knowledge is power,” she concludes.

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Wellframe partners with health plans nationwide to reimagine member relationships. With solutions for care management and advocacy, the Wellframe Digital Health Management platform empowers health plans to become a trusted advocate for all their members' health needs. Learn more at wellframe.com.

Visit the Focus on Member Experience, sponsored by Wellframe!