2016 Nielsen Health Study
In 2016, Nielsen Strategic Health Perspectives surveyed 30,007 U.S. consumers and 626 physicians. It is the second annual survey that Council of Accountable Physician Practices (CAPP)sponsored to monitor the progress of meaningful healthcare delivery reform and the movement toward accountability.
“This survey is evidence of the failure of American health care to provide coordinated, technologically enabled, high-quality health care to the majority of people,” said Robert Pearl, M.D., Chairman of CAPP, and CEO of The Permanente Medical Groupand the Mid-Atlantic Permanente Medical Group.
The survey measured the value of experiences with accountable care: care team coordination, prevention, 24/7 access, evidence-based medicine, and patient and physician access to and use of robust information technology.
Data from the survey includes:
- Eighty-nine percent of primary care physicians say they often remind patients about preventive screenings, but only 14 percent of patients say they get these reminders.
- More than two-thirds of adult Americans are overweight or obese, yet only 5 percent of patients report that their physicians recommended a weight loss program.
- Only half of patients are experiencing physicians who better know their history, primarily due to the ability to share information through electronic medical records.
- However, patients with multiple chronic illnesses, who would most benefit from care coordination, receive only slightly more follow-ups and care management as everyone else.
- Patients’ electronic engagement with physicians is increasing but still low, with 20 to 30 percent of the total surveyed reporting that they have various forms of digital access like online submission of medical questions, email or text reminders.
- Roughly 44 percent report access to online information, such as appointment scheduling, obtaining lab test results, or viewing information via portals.
- Only about one-third have 24/7 access to care through their physician’s office other than the emergency room.
- Sixty-five percent of physicians report using evidence-based guidelines to help determine treatment, with 39 percent of patients recalling discussions on new treatment options.
The leaders of the CAPP, a coalition of leading integrated multi-specialty medical groups and health systems across the U.S. have long been committed to accountable, physician-led, patient-centered care. CAPP Executive Director Laura Fegraus said, “Our survey found that while it is encouraging that the use of care teams and care coordination seem to be increasing, access and the effective use of technology still need improvement, and tactics that help to prevent illness are still woefully ineffective.”
A Technology Solution
With this we find that technology integration needs to be two-fold to be effective: technology needs to be useful and user-friendly (unlike traditional EMR/EHR systems or patient portals), and it must solve the problem of interoperability.
Klara is fixing the American healthcare system through communication. No portals, no downloading bulky technology: user-friendly design and collaboration capabilities. Klara is looking at healthcare technology like consumer technology. At the end of the day, we aren't patients and doctors, we are people. And people need technology that works with their everyday lifestyles.
