Finding Value in Primary Care: Why Organizations Should Prioritize Primary Over Chronic Care

The following is a guest article by Mike Linnert, Chief Executive Officer & Founder at SymphonyRM.

March is National Kidney Month, which highlights the 37 million people in the U.S. – more than 1 in 7 adults – who suffer from chronic kidney disease (CKD). What’s even more alarming: Approximately 90% of those with CKD don’t know they have it. One in three American adults is at risk of developing the chronic condition, which can cause chest pain, persistent itching, and high blood pressure.

While chronic care is critical to the management of an illness like CKD, this data highlights the important role of primary care – particularly wellness visits – can play in prevention and chronic condition management.

Unfortunately, wellness visits were down dramatically in 2020 as a result of the pandemic. One New England-based healthcare system conducted 722 initial wellness visits in 2019, and only 136 in 2020.

So, how do practices and systems get patients back in for those critical well visits, which not only can drive improved patient outcomes, but much needed revenue? (The New England-based system’s data reveals each wellness visit drives an average of three referral appointments.)

A well-designed and executed patient engagement strategy will pro-actively connect with patients on their terms, via their preferred channels, and ensure the prioritization of individuals at highest risk for conditions, like CKD.

Early detection or prevention improves outcomes

According to a 2017 survey by SmartLink Health, only 10% of clinicians have conducted annual wellness visits with more than 80 percent of their eligible Medicare patients; half brought in less than 40% of eligible patients for annual wellness visits.

A study published in The American Journal of Managed Care (2019) revealed that the identification of chronic diseases in their early stages enables prompt treatment that can slow or prevent disease development and debilitating and costly health outcomes. Specifically, annual screening found laboratory evidence for 1185 previously unrecognized cases of prediabetes, 287 cases of diabetes, 73 cases of chronic kidney disease, and 669 positive colorectal screens per 10,000 people.

So, we know early detection and prevention can significantly improve patient outcomes, but, for most health systems and clinics, reaching out to all patients to get them in for these primary care appointments is neither top of mind nor effective when executed.

Proactive patient engagement drives visits, improved outcomes and revenue

It’s easy to put off scheduling wellness visits, especially when we feel healthy. Now, add to that the fears around COVID-19 safety, and you have the makings of a scary post-pandemic reality where diagnoses are missed, treatments delayed and quality life years reduced. That’s why it’s imperative that systems and clinics prioritize strategies and tactics aimed at proactively engaging and building relationships with patients, particularly those who are at higher risk of chronic illness.

Leverage EHR data

In healthcare, there is access to incredibly valuable information within the EHR that can help drive better outcomes for patients and communities. That information, when paired with the right technology tools, like artificial intelligence and machine learning, can be used for risk stratification for certain diseases or conditions. Rather than sending a message to all patients reminding them to schedule their wellness visit regardless of risk status or last appointment, this data can be used to predict and prioritize outreach to those in a high-risk category who haven’t been in for a visit in more than a year.

This data can further be overlayed with capacity availability for efficiency optimization for both servicing patients and maximizing capacity utilization, resulting in accelerated revenue recovery and patient outcomes.

Follow best practices

At SymphonyRM, we are data nerds. We love to use data to not only identify the most appropriate and relevant patient group for an outreach campaign, we also study data to understand how each campaign performed. Therefore, we are able to identify, measure and reassess what tactics are most effective.

  • Be proactive. Own the relationship with your patients. Don’t wait for patients to inquire or reach out for an appointment to start the dialogue. You have the data and the insights – take the initiative to proactively reach out to patients as their health advisors to engage and guide patients to the care they need.
  • The sender matters. For email campaigns, recipients click-through at 170% higher rate when their primary care provider’s (PCP) name is present. It’s important to avoid message fatigue and only use the PCP’s name when it’s a high-risk, high-priority action you’re looking to drive.
  • Reassess often. The numbers don’t lie; when a patient takes an action based on a message – email, text message, phone call – that gets collected. Use that rich data to consistently improve your campaigns. For example, if you notice that a patient prefers – that is, interacts with – text messages to emails, send priority messages via text message and other, less important, information via email.
  • Include clear actions. If you are looking to drive patients to an action – coming in for an annual wellness visit, for example – you need to be as clear and concise as possible. They shouldn’t have to guess why they’re hearing from you or what the next best action for them should be. Then, make that action not only easy to understand, but to complete.

By getting patients in for regular preventive and well care, providers have the opportunity to drive improved outcomes, decrease overall healthcare costs and drive revenue. In order to do that, it’s imperative to engage patients with the strategies and tools that work – that drive them to those appointments – or else messages are lost, as is the potential for prevention, treatment and management of chronic conditions.

As technology continues to evolve, we have an incredible opportunity (and I would argue responsibility) to leverage it in a way that improves the patient experience, starting with healthier lives and outcomes. And what better way to do that than to leverage their trusted primary care relationship?

About Mike Linnert

Michael Linnert, Founder and CEO of SymphonyRM is on a mission to help healthcare organizations – from practice groups to health systems – leverage their audience data to improve patient engagement, health outcomes and exceed business goals. At SymphonyRM, he’s guiding those organizations successfully through the consumerization journey to meet their patients where they are. Find and connect with him on LinkedIn to talk patient engagement, Next Best Actions, and the role marketing plays in healthcare.

   

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