5 Lessons Learned at Events in October

Last week was a very busy week in a very busy month. It's conference and tradeshow season and there are so many live and virtual events going on that it is hard to keep track. Somehow I ended up at a great event hosted by The Academy one week and just a week later I was presenting at three different virtual events.

Last week I presented for Patient Access Collaborative, Hyro and Xtelligent Healthcare Media. While each of these events was focused on a unique audience and topic, in each of these we looked at the importance of mobile in your over digital strategy and how it can support various initiatives from patient access to addressing SDOH. I also stayed around to listen in on many of the other patient access and digital front door sessions. Here's what I've learned from CIOs and Patient Access leaders as well as several our key partners:

1. Health IT and healthcare orgs are moving at light speed to address big challenges. There is a lot happening in key areas like patient access and patient engagement. Healthcare organizations are trying to find solutions that help solve these big problems across their organization. No one wants to have to use one solution on their website and another in their call center and another in the mobile app. And they want vendor partners who will work together to create cohesive experiences. 

2. AI is more broadly prevalent than we might think and can be used very effectively across many of the administrative areas of healthcare. Honestly, I was surprised at all the things around patient access alone that now provide some level of AI. From the call center to the website to SMS text patient communication, AI is solving problems for patients.

3. Health systems have a lot of options. Make sure you are lining up solutions with your goals and the problems you are solving. Don't do anything for the sake of doing it because its "hot" right now. Anything you pursue should make sense as a part of your larger digital strategy. 

4. Don't partner with anyone who doesn't pull back the curtain and show you the inner workings and answer your questions. If a vendor isn't transparent, how can you know they can do what they say. Ask hard questions. You should be able to sign an NDA and get in the weeds with a vendor. If, as CIO Aaron Miri said, a vendor won't show you how the sausage is made, walk away.

5. Of course your patient portal is important and plays a key role in your digital front door, but there are many things it can't do. When you're trying to create a multi-modal, omnichannel strategy that gives patients everything they need and is cohesive and seamless, you'll need partners who can tackle that complex ecosystem.

It was great to hear so many health systems and vendors talking about what matters today. If you missed any of these events, check out the recordings:

Patient Access Collaborative Industry Partner Showcase with Gozio and University of Miami Health(Password: PACIPS2023!)

Hyro Digital Front Door Day with a case study on Piedmont Healthcare

Xtelligent Media webinar, Improve Healthcare Engagement with Personalized Mobile Experiences