Advancement in healthcare in the 21st century has been nothing short of phenomenal. Vaccines, nutraceuticals, devices, care delivery, and data! Yet most people only engage when they are fearful, and the stakes are high: life or death. Despite there being fierce debates on the specific reason for this strange phenomenon, the main reason remains the mindset of people.
Our brains have been wired to unhealthy behavior, ill-adapted to an era of plentiful calories and lower caloric needs, and with growing urbanisation, it has been easier for ‘unhealthy’ to gain our attention. Good health is complete physical, mental, social, and spiritual well-being.
PATIENT (USER) CENTRICITY AND ENGAGEMENT
For a huge population to shift from not-so-healthy to healthy, an effective patient-centered system needs to be designed which addresses each patient’s motivation and keeps patients engaged with their health. Leonard Kush defines patient engagement as [1] -
“attention, followed by an exchange of information that leads to decisions and actions toward better health and patient defined goals”
The benefits of patient centricity and high patient engagement are enormous : better outcomes, higher retention, higher per-patient revenue, and efficiency improvement [2]. The key to engagement in the early stages is to get people’s attention and to let them see what’s possible by using the tools available to improve their health.
The science of ‘human motivation’ and the art of ‘design’ drive patient engagement towards correct decisions and long-term actions.
Behavior change comes when triggers (attention) remind people to do things they a) can do easily and b) are motivated to do.[3]
DIAGNOSTICS
The diagnostics sector has been a faithful partner to healthcare and helped save countless lives; advanced equipment, capacity to handle high volumes, and value-based offerings have completely transformed the Indian industry. Yet, if a healthcare organization isn’t top-of-mind at a user’s moment of truth (when a medical need arises), there is guaranteed system leakage — patients (users) go elsewhere. Considering that the top 3 most popular ‘patient portals’ are Google, WebMD and Wikipedia, this is beyond surprising.[4]
One way to solve it effectively is if all healthcare providers evolve from just being providers of health data to using data + tools to provide value-based care and influence the most effective health decisions, viz. [5]
Level 1 — Information : explanation & interpretation, with suggestions for diagnosis.
Level 2 — Patient counselling : educating patients (especially in diet & lifestyle) and monitoring patient health (by collaborating with clinicians & pharmacists)
SMART TEST REPORTS
Enter Smart Reports. A data and technology-driven tool delivered as SaaS to healthcare providers leveraging pathology.
These well-crafted reports give users of lab tests :
1. Access: Giving consumers access to information in a credible and easy format which they can use.
2. Action: Supporting growth of an ecosystem of tools and apps that allow consumers to take action with their health information.
3. Attitudes: Helping to evolve mindset about consumer engagement and health.
Niroggyan’s smart reports are designed by focussing on the quality of the UX, since experience exists at the intersection between people, their data, and their ability & desire to act. Since 2018, we’ve asking ourselves —
1. What health problem are we trying to solve?
The lack of people comprehending their diagnostic reports properly and failing to take corrective actions afterward.
2. Whose attention are we trying to get?
Users of diagnostics-driven health checks. We carefully curate the behaviour questions and bring out content that helps users become health literate.
3. Is it simple and measurable?
Nothing changes in the diagnostics process flow, it is an affordable solution and the metrics are measurable.
4. How is our implementation going to be analysis-driven?
We follow an iterative, learning-based approach to develop the most advanced lab test reports ever : Advanced, Compact, Summary, Comparative, Pre-Read and Hindi reports.
The Smart Reports tool requires collaboration with healthcare partners who INFORM & ATTRACT, RETAIN & INTERACT, CREATE SYNERGY and EXTEND REACH with users.
Healthcare of the 21st century is becoming an ecosystem in which people take an active part and collaborate with healthcare providers, rather than it just being one-way traffic like it used to be before. Knowledge about the body and its maintenance would be key to happier lives in this ever-changing world.
[1] “Patient engagement is a strategy, not a tool”, Leonard Kish (2014)
[2] www.medicaldialogues.in/understanding-patient-engagement-the-new-blockbuster
[3] www.behaviormodel.org
[4] www.forbes.com/sites/davechase/2012/09/09/patient-engagement-is-the-blockbuster-drug-of-the-century
[5] “Lab challenges and future survival strategy”, Frost and Sullivan
Lab test reports are essential. We are sure you knew that before, and if not, COVID-19 must have done that by now.
At Niroggyan, we know how important your health is. Our products in the form of user-friendly lab test reports are meant to improve health awareness & better living. All so you can live a better life.
We provide seamless API integration with labs, fast enough to get your business up and running in just a couple of clicks. Visit us at niroggyan.com to know more.
