Patient Expectations and the Modern Practice
TECHNOLOGY
“If you don’t like change, you’re going to like irrelevance even less.”
General Eric Shinseki, retired chief of staff
Steven J. Kraus
A Day-in-the-Life of Your Patient
Tom wakes up early in the morning to music streaming from his favorite music app on his iPad. The coffeemaker downstairs, which is connected to his iPad, knows Tom didn’t hit snooze and begins brewing his cup. Tom gets dressed and dons his Apple Watch, which will send that same music to his Bluetooth wireless headphones. It also will hack Tom’s vitals and effort for the morning run he’s about to go on, remind him later in the day if he’s been sitting too long, and count his calories and monitor his blood pressure.
While he’s jogging, Tom receives a text from a client and reads it on his watch without losing his stride. Just as he’s arriving home, he receives a reminder that he needs to be at the optometrist in an hour.
Tom’s iPhone automatically sends his wife a text to let her know that Tom made it to his appointment on time just as he pulls into the parking lot (a task he had asked his virtual assistant to set that up the previous day).
He walks in as a new patient and is asked to complete a digital intake form at a kiosk in the reception area, which in-
^He then hits the share button and now all of his Facebook friends can view his new glasses. 5 5
stantly populates into the clinic’s electronic health records. As the optometrist takes images of his iris, the pics are uploaded into the patient record, and with a snapshot of a QR code, Tom has the images inside his patient portal—complete with the digital annotations the doctor made—that is accessible on his smartphone to show his wife later.
Two hours later when Tom is at lunch, which he just paid for using his watch, he receives an alert on the patient app he downloaded while at the office thanking him for his visit. The alert also lets him know his glasses are ready and provides a picture of his actual frames. He then hits the share button and immediately all of his Facebook friends can view his new glasses.
Later that week, Tom walks into your practice.
What does this part of the story look like?
Clearly, Tom lives in a modem world and has an expectation that those with whom he associates do as well. What would Tom’s impression of your practice be? Are you handing him paper to fill out his intake form, just as they did in the 1950s? Are you using film-based X-rays, just as they did in the 1900s? Can you use pictures, body diagrams, and radiology images to educate your patients about the issues they are having and show them with digital annotations? Are you giving Tom access to your practice’s mobile app where he can open his unique patient portal to your practice to schedule future appointments, receive reminders, and share his results with others to help generate referrals? And don’t forget to assure HIPAA protection to secure his PHI?
In short, are you perceived as a modern doctor directing a modern practice?
You Only Get One Chance...
Of course, we all know the cliché. However, it’s a cliché that not only matters, but also is a critical component of how successful your practice is now and in the future. Because, while your personal life may not incorporate all the technology described earlier, you can bet with every day that passes
that your patients’ expectations are getting higher and higher.
Another cliché: An apple a day keeps the doctor away. Today, that cliché would read with a capital “A,” as in “Apple.” Apple’s entrance into the $3 trillion healthcare industry is going to change everything. One only needs to look at, well, every other industry in the past decade that Apple has touched to understand why. And where Apple leads, then Google, Microsoft, and Samsung will follow. With Apple’s HealthKit and ResearchKit, the health-monitoring and clinical trial open-source software that major hospitals around the world are now plugging into (not to mention the thousands of apps being built with them), the company is now empowering patients to take an active role in their
health care like never before.
Chiropractors would do well to understand what happens when Apple commits billions to an industry. When Fortune 500 companies demanded their millions of employees use BlaclcBerry smartphones, their employees chose the iPhone, and the rest is history. And so is BlackBerry. In other words, patients empowered with technology will decide on how their healthcare information is delivered, shared, and, in many cases, paid for. If we don’t meet that expectation, they’ll get their care somewhere else.
The Modern Practice
Our profession is notorious for turning its back on technology. Even today, only 23% of our profession adopted and attested for meaningful use with certified EHR software—even as we were offered $2.4 billion, and as a profession up to $44,000 individually to do so! Today, the vast majority of doctors in our profession still use film-based X-rays, paper-based intake forms, and barely has a decent website, let alone a patient-facing mobile app to engage and build patient trust, longevity, and referrals. Instead, the medical community is gaining ground on that high-touch,
personalized care that we, as the chiropractic profession, had as a value-added benefit to our care over other disciplines. Now, because digital touch is personalized, customized, and in real-time, it is perceived as a very professional touch, making for a stronger bond between a lifelong patient and his or her doctor. Technology is building bridges. Are you connected with bridges or struggling to keep afloat while crossing the river?
We are used to waiting for years before certain regulations and rules fall into place, but society is trending like a hockey stick on the technology-adoption curve. Everything is going faster and the train left the station a few years ago, but as the power of healthcare technology migrates into the hands, literally, of our patients, then the days of us just relying on being good chiropractors are long over. We are expected to modernize and engage patients on their terms. Adopting dozens of technology components overnight is unreasonable, but starting with something is the only way to get there. If we never start, we’ll never get there. We have an opportunity right now.
Many DCs are leading the pack with digital automated engagement and technology. Unfortunately, half of the doctors
■ " Are you connected with bridges or struggling to keep afloat crossing the river???
in our profession do not lead and do no stay aware of the economic and regulatory changes moving at a rapid pace, nor do many take action with technology adoption. We procrastinate. We wait and see. We wonder. We have fear resulting in paralysis by analysis. It is time to investigate and take action to meet the growing needs of our patients. To meet the challenges of the evolving healthcare delivery system that we must be a part of if we expect to be a vibrant, respected, and viable healthcare choice for our communities. To be a modern doctor in the perception of our patients, as well as those who are seeking a natural healthcare professional specializing in spinal care and wellness.
Just ask Tom.
Steven J. Kraus, DC, FIACN, DIBCN, FASA, FICC, is the Chief Market Strategy Officer for ChiroTouch— the nation’s #1 provider of chiropractic-specific EHR practice management software. He is an acknowledged expert in Health IT, including EHR (electronic health records) and HIPAA issues affecting chiropractic practice and EHR. Dr. Kraus has served—and continues to serve—on numerous national committees involving EHR and clinical quality guidelines. You can reach him at skrausfichirotoiich.com.
