Seizing the opportunity to redefine delivery
At the onset of COVID-19, telehealth capabilities scaled rapidly, with CMS temporarily approving 80 new telehealth services1 while providers reported 50 to 175 times the number of telehealth visits as before the pandemic.2
This rapid deployment was an encouraging sign of the industry's ability to react quickly under pressure. However, COVID-19 also revealed the struggle to ramp up testing, manage sudden demands on beds and equipment, and compensate for shifts in staffing needs.
To manage ongoing disruption and better meet consumer demand, providers will need capabilities that allow them to scale up and down as needed. Continual dialogue, innovative design and data sharing among providers, health plans and consumers can help prioritize outreach, anticipate market fluctuation and sustain service. This will be done through new systems and processes that take the burden off consumers by meeting them when and where they need services. But this level of agile delivery will hinge on a leadership team's ability to develop consumer and market analysis, accelerated planning cycles, digital expertise, strategic partnerships and a culture of innovation.
Innovating cost-effective options
Without consumer-provider engagement, revenue falls, health deteriorates and brand loyalty fades. Finding new modes of delivery — ones that are affordable, easy to access and convenient — are key to connecting with an economically and emotionally distressed public.
In the 10 weeks following the initial COVID-19 shutdown, emergency department visits declined 23 percent for heart attacks and 20 percent for strokes3 — not because fewer of these incidents were occurring, but because patients were likely too scared to come in. These are legitimate concerns that can be addressed through delivery model reconfiguration. For example, some organizations are exploring AI-driven virtual health. Artificial intelligence can automatically risk-adjust and prioritize outreach — especially important when consumers are chronically ill, homebound or worried about the safety of in-person visits.
But even simpler innovations can be considered to reduce barriers. For example, texting could be offered to share safety updates and invite consumers to check in. Cost barriers could be reduced by offering a few minutes of on-demand care consultations for a low price. Financial organizations might create an HSA to help address issues of food insecurity. Healthcare leaders have a unique opportunity to take advantage of the upheaval caused by COVID-19 to identify new ways to be more flexible in benefit design and service delivery.
Innovation demands new leadership skills
Innovation is a leader's response to change. Externally, healthcare leaders can track disease impact and strive toward a pandemic-proof ecosystem. But they can also take a hard look at the economic hardship in their community and the many barriers to health that consumers are facing. Business opportunity and new strategic partnerships may lie within these challenges.
Looking internally, they want to be sure that their executive team has the knowledge and skill to meet the challenges and drive innovation. Health organizations need their leaders to:
- Spot changes in consumer behaviors
- Recognize where consumers and healthcare dollars leave their system
- Develop consumer segmentation strategies
- Employ predictive models to anticipate staff and supply chain disruption
- Build their experience in managing telehealth centers and other virtual options
- Track how current economic pressures and social determinants of health (SDOH) equate to deterioration of health in their populations
- Calculate the business value of new delivery models
- Increase capabilities for data sharing, security, analytics and artificial intelligence
- Accelerate planning cycles and governance
- Grow relationships across the community
- Build a comprehensive digital strategy
- Be attentive to change opportunities and provide required support
- Remain agile in planning and execution
- Innovate
Each member of the C-suite has a unique role in reconfiguring delivery models and transforming healthcare. Explore Health Care Beyond Crisis, Economic Aftershock, and our C-suite insight series Navigating Forward for CEOs, CFOs and CMOs for a deeper look at the unique challenges facing CEOs, CFOs and CMOs, and the specific actions they can take to address them.
SOURCES
1 Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Trump Administration Releases COVID-19 Telehealth Toolkit to Accelerate State Use of Telehealth in Medicaid and CHIP. Newsroom page. CMS website. https://www.cms.gov/newsroom/press-releases/trump-administration-releases-covid-19-telehealth-toolkit-accelerate-state-use-telehealth-medicaid. Accessed August 11, 2020.
2 American Medical Association (AMA). After COVID-19, $250 billion in care could shift to telehealth. Digital page. AMA website. https://www.ama-assn.org/practice-management/digital/after-covid-19-250-billion-care-could-shift-telehealth#:~:text=Physicians%20and%20other%20health%20professionals,who%20used%20telehealth%20in%202019. Accessed August 11, 2020.
3 Lange SJ, Ritchey MD, Goodman AB, Dias T, Twentyman E, Fuld J, Schieve LA, Imperatore G, Benoit SR, Kite-Powell A, Stein Z, Peacock G, Dowling NF, Briss PA, Hacker K, Gundlapalli AV, Yang Q. Potential Indirect Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Use of Emergency Departments for Acute Life-Threatening Conditions — United States, January–May 2020. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website. https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/mm6925e2.htm. Accessed August 11, 2020.