My unfair advantage comes from the fact that my step father is the Medical Director for Non-Acute Care at a leading hospital network in the Boston area. This past Sunday morning, I went to enjoy a cup of coffee at his home to see how his weekend was (he had been on call at the hospital all weekend). Our conversations span a wide range of topics – from politics, to pop culture, to the economy, religion and of course, healthcare. This time we broached the topic of patient centric care – and how mobility could improve that “business process.”

Now, while it may seem “cold” to think of patient care as a business, the harsh realities of healthcare payments and reimbursements – especially in the United States – make it very much a business…a business that is quite happy to earn 1-2% net margins. Healthcare facilities are always struggling to find new ways of improving patient care and safety with very limited financial resources. This sounds to me like a classic case of where mobility can help an organization improve the quality of its service, all while managing costs.

Specifically, I find many similarities in patient care with customer relationship management (CRM). Patients are always waiting: they’re waiting in the emergency room; they’re waiting to get an appointment with a doctor; they’re waiting in the doctor’s office; and certainly for test results. This creates much stress for the “customer.” While there is of course a higher level of stickiness in the relationship between a physician and patient, hospital administrators do still worry about “churn.” So what can they do to alleviate some of that stress and churn? I think there are two fundamental areas where healthcare systems could leverage a Patient Relationship Management (PRM) system. The first is in a “B2B” context and the second is in a “B2B2C” environment.

1. The B2B Context: There is an increasing trend within the healthcare industry to digitize medical records. This creates tremendous value for the medical system – patient records are only a computer screen away. Physicians’ notes, order entries, lab work and the entire history of the patient is available in one central location. However, the healthcare provider must go to the information, as opposed to the information coming to them. IT solved this problem years ago with the advent of Push Email and Mobile CRM, yet it has not arrived to healthcare. Imagine if as soon as lab results were entered into the electronic medical record, the system pushed out a notification to all relevant healthcare practitioners to their mobile device. Imagine then a scenario where that email provided a link that the medical professional could click that would either launch an application on their mobile or provide a link to a web based application where they could see the results and then be able to share those results in real time with the patient. The time savings – and the improvements in the efficacy of care - should be pretty straight forward.
2. The B2B2C Context: As I mentioned earlier, one of the greatest points of fear and frustration in patient care is having to wait. What if there were an automated system that would provide real time notifications to patients and their loved ones when new information was available? You’re on your way to the doctor’s office and you get a text message or an email saying that the doctor is running late, so you don’t have to wait in the office another hour. The lab results have come in and the doctor can talk to you at 4:00pm today…or 10:00am tomorrow. This wouldn’t necessarily be in violation of HIPAA regulations regarding patient confidentiality, because no information has been shared. However, there could theoretically also be a secure mobile portal where patients could log in to see what their lab results were.