Disruptions in Digital Patient Engagement

 “As a practicing physician and academic clinician (as well as someone who sits at the executive level of my hospital), I am keenly interested in data and analyses that is both forward looking and practical. In the Spyglass Digital Patient Engagement 2023 report, I have found significant value due to the clear and concise approach to decoding some of the most significant changes related to healthcare that are happening today. The goal of any and every clinician is to ultimately find ways to better partner with our patients to help them achieve better health in a cost-effective and high-quality manner.  This report gives strong justification to institutions and individual physicians alike on how to achieve that goal. Leveraging the insights of 100 different leaders in the areas of clinical informatics, institutional leadership, academics and clinical practice, Mr. Malkary has succeeded in creating something engaging, digestible and practical. This report ultimately provides something for everyone in healthcare and will undoubtedly help to guide many organizations’ plans related to engaging patients in the digital realm. I’m glad I read it and I feel more knowledgeable for having done so - something I cannot say for other similar documents.”

     - Saroj Misra, DO, FAAFP, FACOFP dist

       Chief of Family Medicine

       Ascension Macomb-Oakland Hospital

“Are you wondering why certain "digital health" applications and strategies aren't working or what other organizations and colleagues are thinking about these technologies? The Spyglass Digital Patient Engagement 2023 report gives you a window into the thought processes of your colleagues. Maybe it will confirm your thoughts. I suspect it will give you at least one good insight that will change your approach.  The report sources its information from multiple front line clinical and operational leaders. Having been a participant in past reports, I can confirm that the opinions in the report are not borne of theory. They come from these front-line leaders who see what is working and what is not working and why.  The report summarizes and objectifies the opportunities of the promising technologies that constitute digital health. Importantly, it also highlights many of the challenges with which the healthcare industry struggles, which may not necessarily be obvious to a vendor selling the latest product or a provider going through a vendor selection. It should therefore be required reading for vendors trying to deliver their product or providers going through a vendor selection.”

     - John Lee MD

       (Former) CMIO Alleghany Health Network

"Most health systems are implementing Digital Patient Engagement (DPE) solutions, to improve their patients’ experience, and also to offset capacity concerns. The Spyglass Digital Patient Engagement 2023 report gives an excellent review of peer-based opinions and perspectives on the main DPE technologies. For example, it’s clear from the data that the Covid pandemic acted as an accelerator of DPE, primarily in the areas of telehealth and patient portal use. But now that we’re past the pandemic, the technology mix for DPE will start shifting. From a CMIO / CNIO perspective, this report gives perspectives from peer-interviews on where they see the next wave of DPE implementations.  The Spyglass Digital Patient Engagement report makes it clear that DPE is not one single tool or app – it’s an ecosystem of options, both for patients and providers. Health Systems can optimize their mix of DPE approaches as technology develops and as the patient population develops expectations on a health providers’ use of DPE tools. The multi-channel / omni-channel section in the report will resonate with health IT implementors: we need multiple methods to engage patients with a variety of needs and backgrounds, it’s not one size fits all.   I think the value of the report is the broad collection of peer-interview opinions on this topic. You might not agree with everything that your peers discuss in the report, and that’s OK, because it certainly will make you think and consider the strategic options for your organization."

    - Harm Scherpbier MD MS FAMIA FHIMSS

      Adjunct Faculty Jefferson College of Population Health

      CMIO, HealthShare Exchange

      Digital Health Strategist, Scherpbier.health

“An effective bridge between health and health care requires a better approach to patient engagement. Adoption of digital tools to drive patient engagement accelerated by necessity during the COVID-19 pandemic, but now it is necessary to understand how to leverage these tools by design to achieve desired outcomes given their initial and continued investment costs.   This 2023 Spyglass report, Healthcare without Bounds: Disruptions in Digital Patient Engagement, employs a comprehensive survey of current tools, investment appetite, challenges, and outcomes of digital patient engagement tools from current technology leaders at health systems across the United States to inform the reader’s strategic decision making.  The analysis excels at telling the story for each modality of digital patient engagement, including telehealth, remote patient monitoring, and wearables, among others. The statistics are complemented by spotlight case studies of deployments at health systems. The details are critical to draw informed conclusions about if and how a particular kind of technology could work at a different health system.  When trying to research a new kind of technology, we tend to ask for anecdotal evidence from colleagues about their experiences. Given the time investment, it’s difficult to get a more comprehensive evaluation on your own. This report is invaluable for its key insights collated from peer stakeholders that you need to understand before making your own assessment.”

     - Birju Patel MD

       (Former) Clinical Specialist, Google Health

“Disruptions in Digital Patient Engagement, a Spyglass Digital Patient Engagement 2023 report, is an in-depth analysis of the digital patient engagement solutions used by US based healthcare provider organizations.  Gregg Malkary is a highly skilled consultant, whose ability to interview healthcare professionals to extract the trends and themes of digital patient engagement successes and failures is akin to a psychiatrist interviewing a patient to understand their life story and where the issues reside.  Software and hardware vendors, system integrators, management consulting groups, healthcare administrators and IT executives, clinicians, as well as investment banking and private equity investors will discover key insights into what worked and if not, why.  I may be biased as one of the individuals who contributed to this report, but I am struck with how well Mr. Malkary is able to ask open-ended questions and weave follow-up questions to reveal the implementation story.  Without question, he has a large cohort of providers whom he can tap into their collective wisdom. His interview skills, along with analytical thinking has generated a report that truly covers which disease states benefit the most from these digital patient engagement solutions, as well as how the COVID-19 has served as an accelerator for adoption. Bottom line, this report is a must read!”

     - John Luo, MD

       Director, Psychiatry Residency Training, UC Irvine

       (Former) Chief Medical Information Officer, UC Riverside School of medicine

       (Former) Senior Physician Informaticist, UCLA Health

“I have been a Certified Informatics Nurse Specialist for over 20 years; in that time, I have read numerous reports and attended multiple seminars referencing Digital Patient Engagement. None of those experiences were as complete and comprehensive and this Spyglass report, Disruptions in Digital Patient Engagement 2023. This report gives an informative perspective on the benefits and barriers of digital patient engagement. The author has done an extensive review of the numerous aspects of digital patient engagement with professional anecdotes and facts supported by visually appealing graphs of the data and statistics.

Overall, the best part of this report is the utility in determining what is the best and most meaningful return on investment not only monetarily but in terms of patient and clinician satisfaction. This help decision makers to determine if, and when, it is appropriate to deploy, initiate, and/or support technologies to improve workflow and patient engagement beyond face-to-face exams/encounters.  My main take away after reading through the document and thoroughly analyzing the content is that while there remains struggles in adoption through the digital divide, cultural acceptance, and age-based norms, digital patient engagement is a worthwhile endeavor. The document allowed me to hone-in on key aspects of varying technologies that may effectively break down perceived barriers while also giving me a broader sense of the health-care industries past, current, and future state regarding digital patient engagement.  While not a roadmap to the future, the document serves as a viable and useful guide for anyone seeking knowledge through expertise and experience concerning digital patient engagement."

     - Troy M Seagondollar, MSN-I, RN-BC

       Regional Informatics Practice Specialist

       Kaiser Permanente

“As an Entrepreneur and Business Leader in Healthcare IT for 25 years, dedicated to point of care communications, I’m encouraged by the growth and development of Digital Patient Engagement as a category. The Spyglass Consulting Group study on this topic, Disruptions in Digital Patient Engagement 2023, is a compelling piece to process, as a complete and comprehensive understanding of where we have been, where we are, and where we are going. This report gives us the perspective of the challenges and opportunities in digital patient engagement directly from leaders in the patient care community. The study provides a framework across multiple dimensions to highlight the complexity of the problem that patient care professionals face in these times of uncertainty. This study looks at the numerous ways organizations look at digital patient engagement in an open and data driven approach, but presents the information in a way that is easy to understand and practical in how it can be applied.

Overall, the best part of the study is how Provider Organizations look at meaningful return on investment in Digital Patient Engagement in fragmented way, while actual patient centered care and related engagement, whether digital or not, is a strategic priority that is essential to improving outcomes. Organizations with the traditional project approach are falling short of meeting their goals, and they are looking for solutions.  My main take away after analyzing the study is an unbelievable opportunity for entrepreneurs and business leaders to show imagination, creativity and innovation in their approach to supporting Provider Organizations. This includes encouraging decision makers to aim for a future that embraces the complexity and works through the use of practical technology to improve patient engagement and patient centered care.  It should be part of every touch point along the patient journey and culturally a top priority for Provider Organization and their technology partners. This report is essential to any business that is looking to grow and being part of the solution in improving Digital Patient Engagement.”

     - Keith Washington

       Point of Care Communications Entrepreneur

       Co-Founder Flo Healthcare

       (Former) CEO, pCare, 8x Best in KLAS/Category Leader Interactive Patient Systems

“As someone who has sold digital health platforms to payers and providers for almost 20 years, I have found Gregg Malkary and Spyglass Consulting to be invaluable resources. Their reports have helped pressure test our market research and provided a unique buyer's perspective. I reviewed Spyglass Consulting Group's "Disruptions in Digital Patient Engagement" report and found it valuable for both healthcare providers and population health companies.  The report provides insights into the adoption of digital patient engagement solutions by US healthcare provider organizations, including market trends driving investment and usage. Healthcare providers can use this information to improve their engagement strategies and support enterprise-wide deployments. Population health companies can better understand customer needs and develop more effective products and services tailored to those needs by understanding the challenges healthcare providers face in implementing digital patient engagement solutions. Overall, I recommend this report to anyone looking to stay current on digital patient engagement trends and best practices in the healthcare industry. Spyglass Consulting Group's insights are practical and actionable, making this report a valuable resource for both healthcare providers and population health companies.”

     - Kevon Kothari

       Managing Director for Corporate Development, Innovaccer

      (Former) Vice President, Corporate Development & Innovation, ICON PLC 

"Over the last 25 years, I've had the opportunity to read countless reports on the state of the healthcare industry that focuses on market sizing, pain points, and trends.  I've found some helpful, but many are high-level data points that did not assist me in my focus area of focus.   I found the Spyglass Digital Patient Engagement 2023 report showing both the higher-level industry trends but also, more granular information that provides a real-life and realistic view of what's happening today with patients' digital engagement at the provider level.  The interview style approach used by Spyglass provided detailed information from a variety of healthcare professionals, providing a unique and robust way of getting a clear picture of the size and maturing of the digital patient engagement market.  Most importantly, it gives data points on where we are today, what future plans are, and focuses on specific Digital Patient engagement models and technology.   Regardless of if you're a provider, investor, start-up, or even a savvy solution provider, the information in the report will provide guidance for a “real world" usable view and information on patient digital healthcare engagement.  The current use and future plans with the context of the "why" are outlined on the way. I found the granular and high-level research  for a  realistic view."

     - Ron Emerson RN BSN

       (Former) Global Healthcare Lead at Zoom Video Communications

"I have been studying digital health and patient engagement for the past 18 months, so I have a strong appreciation for some of the market dynamics and complexity of these segments. There is a lot that I had to learn about the market to develop various segmentation models and understand corresponding use cases. I could have saved a lot of time and would had been far more effective if I would have had the Spyglass Disruptions in Digital Patient Engagement 2023 report before I started my market analysis.  If you are a market analyst or in a role related to product management/marketing, strategy or similar, then you probably do not have time on your side. If you want to quickly learn deeper insights about digital health topics then I highly recommend you read this Spyglass report. This report will provide perspectives from the customer’s point of view, which is what matters most if you are going to be successful trying to enter or play in any of these segments."

     - Brian McAlpine

       Strategic Market Analyst, Digital Health

       (Former) VP, Strategy and Business Development, Bernoulli Health  

“After witnessing the rapid growth in telehealth and the broader category of digital patient engagement during the COVID-19 pandemic, many healthcare delivery organizations (HDOs) are reevaluating their investment decisions. In the Digital Patient Engagement 2023 report, Spyglass uncovered that the mean number of solutions deployed is approximately three per HDO and almost exclusively as departmental solutions.  I have long argued that enterprise adoption of digital patient engagement and the telehealth segment will accrue to the major EHR providers such as Epic and Cerner. This is fundamentally because sessions can be scheduled, conducted, documented, and billed in a single system. Spyglass takes the argument one step further and lays out a case that enterprise adoption will be hindered for years to come by post-COVID changes to reimbursement by CMS and resistance to adoption by patients and providers alike.  The report is well researched and documented and is compelling reading for any professional engaged in Healthcare IT. As an executive and investor in the industry, the report provides me with great value in understanding where to invest precious equity capital for the greatest return and least amount of risk.”

     - John Elms

       (Former) CEO at Critical Alert, Connexall USA, Azalea Networks, and Spectralink

       (Former) Chief Product Officer at TigerConnect

“Since the dawn of the general commercialization of the Web in the mid-1990s, my career has been dedicated to the innovative application of Internet and advanced, emergent technologies to the resolution of specific challenges in healthcare - including the clinical continuum, the revenue cycle, and coding & reimbursement. Given the inherent fragmentation of healthcare delivery, the disconnect between silos of care & the related complexities of care transitions, and the lack of alignment of stakeholder financial incentives, access to deep, data-driven insight into the mechanics & near-horizon directions of the healthcare industry is critical to the success of cutting-edge innovation initiatives.

Today, at the cusp of the realization of an intelligent connected healthcare ecosystem, for independent entrepreneurs, provider organizations, policy makers, and innovators within the legacy health information management vendor community, Gregg Malkary’ s seminal work, “Disruptions in Digital Patient Engagement, 2023,” provides high-resolution, data-supported analysis into the foundation, building blocks, and policy & regulatory framework of today's digital health infrastructure and business climate. Viewed thought the guiding principles of the “Triple Aim” - i.e., enhancing the patient experience of care, improving the health of populations, and reducing per capita costs of healthcare.  Mr. Malkary’ s report represents a strategic roadmap for organizations pursing an integrated approach to the application of technology and virtual care delivery in support of population health, risk management and value-based reimbursement.”

     - Jerry Kolosky

       Digital Health Entrepreneur

       (Former) Senior Healthcare Advisor, Panasonic

       (Former) VP, 3M Health Information Systems