Thomas Hagemeijer’s Post

There's a lot of interesting models being developed with the help of digital in the space of healthcare. Worth analysing carefully if you are in this space, especially if one combines the idea of distributed healthcare with the services that can be supported by AI because that is a space in which advanced expertise is critical and therefore there is very high relevance in developing the ability of a healthcare organisation to have a hybrid human-machine brain and become a true learning organisation. Food for thought.

Thank you, Thomas Hagemeijer, for sharing these thought-provoking insights on the transformative role of virtual wards in healthcare. This model, pioneered by the NHS and now embraced by Asklepios in Germany, is a decisive step towards redefining patient care. Here’s why this matters: 1️⃣ Scaling Patient-Centered Care with Virtual Wards Virtual wards aren’t just about moving hospital beds to the home; they’re about creating a robust, scalable system for delivering hospital-quality care remotely. By combining real-time monitoring with centralized coordination, Asklepios sets a new standard that could transform healthcare delivery across Germany, making care more accessible and flexible for patients and providers. This potential impact on patient care is truly inspiring. 2️⃣ Adaptability: The Key to Success While virtual wards offer impressive cost savings and help alleviate staffing pressures, their effectiveness varies based on context—patient demographics, technology integration, and care team dynamics all play a role. This variation underscores the need for adaptable strategies. As healthcare professionals, we have the power to ensure that virtual wards effectively meet specific community and patient needs rather than relying on a one-size-fits-all approach. 3️⃣ Driving Innovation in a Time of Change Even amid financial reforms, Asklepios’s commitment to virtual wards exemplifies a bold vision for German healthcare. By involving payors early on, they’re paving the way for a supportive reimbursement structure that could accelerate adoption and make virtual care a sustainable part of the system. This move may be precisely what Germany needs to modernize healthcare delivery. Thank you for spotlighting the potential of virtual wards, Thomas. Your post highlights a powerful opportunity to adapt and advance our healthcare models to meet evolving patient expectations and system challenges. It also underscores the importance of continuous evaluation and improvement in the implementation of virtual wards, fostering a culture of learning and innovation in healthcare. #VirtualWards #HealthcareInnovation #DigitalHealth #PatientCenteredCare #HealthTech #HealthcareReform #Asklepios #NHS

Virtual wards present a potentially promising advancement in healthcare, but their success hinges on the true driving force behind their implementation. If the focus is on better patient outcomes, particularly for those who can safely receive care at home, the benefits are substantial. For instance, patients at home face a lower risk of hospital-acquired infections like MRSA. Additionally, virtual wards can be highly effective for managing chronic diseases, allowing for continuous remote monitoring and timely interventions without the need for frequent hospital visits. However, caution is necessary. If virtual wards are deployed primarily for cost management, the resulting patient experience (PX) will be inside-out, designed to meet the hospital’s needs rather than the patients’. To truly succeed, virtual wards must be designed with an outside-in approach, ensuring that patient needs and outcomes are at the forefront of the design and implementation process.

👀 Dying to know what happened at HIMSS this year? Most interesting ideas I heard: 1️⃣ For Hospital-at-Home and RPM to be successful, physician leaders can’t just manage things from a remote command center. Physician leaders must have boots on the ground, directly engaging with peer physicians to sell them on this transformation. - Dr. Eve Cunningham MD MBA, Chief of Digital Health & Virtual Care Providence 2️⃣ Yes, you may need a vendor partner to scale Digital Health. But you can do a scrappy pilot to demonstrate the potential with stuff you can find on hospital floors. Take Hospital Virtual Nursing: just grab a computer, webcam and mobile cart you already have and just get going! - Summer Blackerby CNIO & Gina Ellerbee, Administrative Director of Nursing Practice CoxHealth 3️⃣ How do you drive downloads to a health system’s Digital Front Door app? Market it next to a high value, high volume existing patient interaction. Downloads spiked when they included a link to their app in patient appoint text reminders. - Dan Dodson, MBA, MSMI, System Director of Digital Health, UNC Health 4️⃣ Not only does Hospital-at-Home improve the patient experience and free up bad capacity… but it actually lowers violence in the hospital and emergency room. - Dr. Eric Alper CMIO UMass Memorial Health 5️⃣ A big thing we learned in the pandemic is that Digital Health can play a crucial role for reducing patient anxiety. When patients were scared and isolated in their homes… Digital Health reduced anxiety by keeping patients reassured and connected to their care teams - Dr. Zenobia Brown MD, MPH SVP & Associate CMO, Northwell Health 6️⃣ Digital Health will live and die by whether the clinical workflows make sense. For example, with remote monitoring, physicians will say “I don’t have time to monitor all this data” or “who is getting an alert for this?”. Clinician adoption comes down to making the workflows… work. - Deborah Muro CIO El Camino Health 7️⃣ An often forgotten benefit of Hospital-at-Home and RPM is that it allows patients to worry less about their families and kids… because they will still be at home with them. - Colleen Hole, Chief Nursing Executive Atrium Health 8️⃣ Send patients all the digital surveys you want… BUT realize that patients engage far more if you actually use patient-generated health data collected to then immediately deliver value through personalized patient feedback in the digital experience. - Kathleen Mazza, PhD RN MBA Sr. Advisor, Clinical Digital Solutions Northwell Health What were the most interesting ideas you heard at #HIMSS24? #digitalhealth #healthcareinnovation

Like the authors, I am a family physician. But I am also a hospital CEO, and perhaps paradoxically I echo and support their position. This is a credible and compelling call to action to our provincial government to get beyond discussion and build the primary care system that is within our grasp (it’s not rocket surgery) and needed by literally every stakeholder in the province: The people we serve, the caregivers that support them, the frontline healthcare workers drowning in unnecessary volumes driven by unmet demand and inadequate resources….and ultimately the skyrocketing tax burden of funding a sickness-focused/failure-of-upstream-intervention-system. I don’t believe Dr’s Martin, Philpott and Verma are advocating for defunding two hospitals, or not investing in the ones we have. Hospital care is incredibly important, and there is a need to invest significant capital to keep up with explosive population aging and growth. But with taking a deep breath and investing in primary care, home care, transitional care, long term care, and community services, the demand which ends up in our hospitals’ halls, Emergency Departments, and waiting rooms can eventually be shaped and met elsewhere: In the community, in ambulatory sites, or in peoples’ homes. So instead of having to build mammoth hospitals and fund them at their current utilization rate extrapolated (that is a hole that is hopelessly impossible to fill), with 10 years of thoughtful investment and capacity building, we should be able to get to ~85% or so of what we would have to spend on hospital capital and operating budgets based on our current utilization. That will still be more than what we spend now(yet be a lower percent of the GDP), because the population will be larger, older and sicker. But that 15% delta is where the savings to sustainably fund the authors’ proposal and others of the “upstream” sort is derived, and this results in a system that isn’t constantly over capacity. Hallelujah. No hallway healthcare. Care in the home and community. Healthcare instead of sickness care. Health promotion in lieu of healthcare. Crazy talk. But what is the alternative? Thanks Danielle, Jane, and Sarita!

The potential for private sector involvement in New Zealand's public hospital services has garnered increasing attention in recent years. While private participation could offer solutions to some of the challenges facing the public healthcare system, it also raises concerns. One of the primary drivers for exploring private sector involvement is the significant capital investment needed for hospital infrastructure projects. PPPs are already in use for non-clinical services. The injection of private funds for infrastructure development could reduce the immediate financial burden on the government and spread risks more effectively. The use of private hospitals to address public hospital waiting lists for elective surgeries has already been demonstrated in NZ. Contracting private hospitals to perform certain procedures can reduce waiting times, improve patient satisfaction, and provide greater access to services. Private sector involvement could also potentially improve operational efficiency in hospitals. Private hospitals are often seen as more agile, providing faster care with fewer bureaucratic hurdles. Outsourcing elective procedures to private hospitals also allows the public system to focus on acute care. Despite these benefits, there are significant challenges. Evidence from international cases, suggests that outsourcing or fully privatising hospital services might not always lead to better care. In some instances, cost-saving strategies adopted by private operators, like reducing staff or selectively treating patients, have led to diminished care quality. Additionally, the increased reliance on private services could inflate long-term public healthcare costs, as public hospitals outsource more complex cases. Expanding private involvement risks eroding the government’s responsibility for comprehensive healthcare provision. There is concern that PPPs or privatisation could lead to a reduction in government accountability for secondary healthcare. Critics also argue that the shift toward private care fragments the healthcare system, complicating patient care pathways and increasing health inequalities. As the private sector expands, there is growing competition for healthcare professionals. NZ already faces challenges in retaining medical specialists, who are increasingly drawn to better pay and working conditions in the private sector. This shift could worsen shortages in the public hospital workforce. While there are clear financial and operational advantages to expanding private sector involvement in NZ's public hospital services, it is essential to address the potential downsides. Ensuring that the quality of care is maintained, workforce pressures are mitigated, and government accountability is preserved will be key to any successful expansion of private sector roles. Careful planning and regulation are necessary to balance these opportunities and challenges. Aceso Health Digital Health Association (DHA) Samantha Ford

Agree with Dr Tom that a balanced broader view and adequate planning are key aspects of any shift towards bringing in more private sector involvement. Unintended consequences could be mitigated with co-design that includes those across the healthcare continuum to ensure all integrated and supportive aspects can be pulled together. Home and Community providers, early supported discharge, NGOs and recruitment-immigration are all key factors.

The COVID-19 pandemic irrevocably altered many aspects of our lives, from how we interact with each other to the way we work. Among the professions in the healthcare sector deeply impacted are Physician Assistants (PAs) and Nurse Practitioners (NPs), whose roles, demand, and working environments have evolved significantly in the post-pandemic landscape.

Tired of Endless Waiting Rooms? It’s Time to Rethink How We Spend Our Time in Healthcare. Waiting for hours in a clinic has become an unfortunate norm. Whether it's arriving early and hoping to be seen quickly or juggling our schedules to accommodate unpredictable delays, one thing remains constant: waiting is exhausting. Did you know that patients spend an average of 18-40 minutes waiting to see a doctor in most clinics across the world? In some cases, the wait can be significantly longer, leading to an average of 121 minutes spent per visit when including registration and consultation time. That’s over two hours for a single appointment! And that's not even counting the extra time for follow-up visits. While some might brush this off as “just the way it is,” these delays have very real consequences—both for patients and healthcare providers. The Patient Perspective: Time Lost, Stress Gained For patients, time wasted in waiting rooms doesn’t just mean inconvenience; it often disrupts entire days. From missed meetings at work to scrambling to find childcare, the unorganized appointment process costs more than just minutes; it costs peace of mind. According to a study by the Medical Group Management Association, 30% of patients have left a medical appointment due to excessive waiting times. And the frustration doesn’t stop there. Long waits increase patient dissatisfaction and, in many cases, push people to delay seeking medical care altogether. In today’s fast-paced world, every minute counts. Shouldn’t healthcare—one of the most essential services—respect our time more? The Doctor and Clinic Perspective: Efficiency Challenges The chaos doesn’t only affect patients; it also impacts doctors and clinics. Inefficient scheduling systems and unpredictable patient flow lead to: Doctor burnout: Studies show that healthcare professionals spend up to 40% of their time on non-clinical tasks. This includes managing schedules and dealing with delays. Clinic inefficiency: Unorganized appointment systems reduce patient throughput, leading to fewer consultations per day. For a clinic, this translates to lost revenue and lower patient satisfaction. Higher operational costs: Clinics end up having to overbook or deal with last-minute cancellations, creating a vicious cycle of inefficiency and wasted resources. So, why hasn’t this system improved? Why are both patients and doctors still stuck in a broken system that fails to prioritize time and efficiency? Are you ready for a world where you never have to waste hours in a waiting room again? 🔗 Follow us for updates and be the first to know when Vyzo launches. Let’s create a more efficient, patient-centered healthcare experience—together. #HealthTech #PatientCare #HealthcareInnovation #ClinicEfficiency #TimeManagement #HealthcareTransformation #DoctorAppointments #ReduceWaitTimes

PRIVATE HOSPITALS ARE BLEEDING UNDER PM-JAY. TRUE OR FALSE? Looking to Speak with Private Hospital Owners/Admins with Ground-Level Experience. RESEARCH ARTICLE ON IMPACT OF PM-JAY SCHEME ON PRIVATE HOSPITALS At Navig Health, we are working on an article to gather diverse perspectives on the ground-level impact of the PMJAY Ayushman Bharat scheme on Private Hospitals. We aim to interview 8-10 experts to capture a holistic view. Professionals from private hospital management / ops team who have implemented PMJAY. Would like to understand their good, bad, and ugly experiences. Particularly interested in hearing about challenges faced and best practices that have worked for your hospitals while working with PMJAY. Please tag anyone in the comments who might have insights on this topic. It will help us build + share a comprehensive picture of PMJAY's implementation and impact. You can also reach out to us directly - [email protected], Subject: PMJAY Follow Navig Health Will share our learnings from this research with our community in coming weeks. ----------------------- 𝗔𝗥𝗧𝗜𝗖𝗟𝗘 / 𝗥𝗘𝗦𝗘𝗔𝗥𝗖𝗛 𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗧𝗘𝗫𝗧: Somewhere I read “Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) is India’s attempt to digitise healthcare systems and to transform the medical sector, similar to what UPI has done for fintech.” :) ABDM cannot and should never be compared to what India achieved with UPI. While not ideal, But PMJAY is a necessary and might be the only mechanism to achieve UHC (Universal Health Coverage) for India. Many of the Private Hospitals hate PM-JAY for multiple reasons. Top ones: > Low package rates > Delayed payments > Claims approval delays > Complex documentation + Bureaucratic procedures > Cases of fraud / abuse > leading to claims denial The list is long. These challenges are mostly known. But as a Nation, we will have to find ways to make it work for us. Through this research Navig's agenda, is to speak to hospital owners, admin teams, staff members, patients, and govt officials currently working with the PM-JAY schemes. We are looking to hear the positive side of the PM-JAY scheme. There are few hospitals where a big chunk of revenues is driven by this scheme. > How are they making it work? > What best practices and processes these hospitals are using to make the scheme work for them? 𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐎𝐮𝐭𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞: If friction and resistance to implementing the scheme are reduced by streamlining processes, minimizing bureaucracy, and expediting claims approval and payments, Then the uptake of the scheme will increase. Ultimately helping India move closer to its vision of Universal Health Coverage. ----------------------- Follow Navig Health for Healthcare Business Growth Insights. Navig is a community of like-minded doctors and healthcare professionals to discuss "Everything on the Business Side Of Indian Healthcare". #indiahealthcare #ayushmanbharat #PMJAY #indiahospitals