On June 8 at 1 p.m. EST, Healthcare IT News and NewYork-Presbyterian will co-host an inaugural #HealthyTechTalk Twitter Chat to explore the state of digital health and its opportunities to improve care delivery. The discussion will be moderated by Tom Sullivan, Editor-in-Chief, Healthcare IT News (@SullyHIT) with special guests: 

• Dr. Peter Fleischut (@PeterFleischut), SVP and Chief Transformation Officer, NewYork-Presbyterian
• Daniel Barchi (@DanielJBarchi), Chief Information Officer, NewYork-Presbyterian

RSVP by adding the Twitter Chat to your calendar now.

The questions that will be discussed in the chat are as follows:

• How has increased popularity of digital health services changed the role patients play in their healthcare experience? #HealthyTechTalk
• With so many digital health services available, what distinguishes an effective tool from an ineffective tool? #HealthyTechTalk
• How can telemedicine better help physicians deliver safe, appropriate, and effective care to patients? #HealthyTechTalk
• What barriers do patients and providers face when it comes to telemedicine? And how can we overcome these challenges? #HealthyTechTalk
• What is your perceived TOP opportunity to simplify patient care TODAY using digital health tools? #HealthyTechTalk

Why #HealthTechTalk? A primer. 

As digital health technologies mature, their influence is changing the culture of healthcare. Depending on whom you talk to, the digital revolution offers many the promise of a remedy to an overly complex, inconvenient, and cumbersome healthcare system. For others, digitization of health management and healthcare delivery adds a lot of shiny objects to an industry that needs practical innovation and reform. In an environment where observed value of digital health tools, patient dis-and re-engagement, clinician burnout, booming IT investment, and uncertain healthcare policy are all equally real, it’s important to convene the spectrum of these health technology attitudes to plot out and employ meaningful change. 

The #HealthyTechTalk Twitter Chat will serve as a primer for the evolving discussion around digital health – bringing together the essential voices of change to shape the next generation of healthcare innovation. In the meantime, here is what we currently know about the state of digital health:

1. Consumers/patients want better access to clinicians via video.

Retail clinics and the mobile app ecosystem are beginning to consumerize the health(care) experience to make basic health services more accessible and transparent. However, when people want to visit their doctors they’re balking according to American Well’s Telehealth Index 2017 Consumer Survey. Surveying 2,100 consumers, the survey found that 67% respondents are delaying care because:

• It costs too much (23 percent)
• It takes too long to get in to see a doctor or nurse (23 percent)
• They thought the problem would go away on its own (36 precent)
• They are too busy (13 percent)

The survey cited that 69 precent of respondents wanted video consults as a remedy to the above obstacles and upwards of 65 precent preferred a PCP that offered video visits.

2. Providers are already employing digital health tools to empower clinicians and patients. 

From apps to process improvements, there are a number of health providers that are innovating to better serve their patients. One example comes from NewYork-Presbyterian’s telehealth suite that offers telepsychiatric, telemecdicine and telestroke services for their patients that substantially cut down wait and discharge times, allow for second opinions, and save brain function respectively. 

Digital health services such as these provide a blueprint to serve similar patient populations while detailing opportunities for health technologists to bring new tools to market.

3. Digital health funding shows no signs of slowing down. 

In Q1 of 2017, Rock Health ($1 billion) and Startup Health ($2.5 billion) both reported strong showings in digital health investment – with both organizations agreeing that, despite some reporting differences, the industry is on par for similar growth in 2015 and 2016. What might be most surprising is that despite uncertainty surrounding reimbursement and health reform, Rock Health reports little indication of investment slowdown.  

Have some pre-chat insights of your own? Share them using #HealthyTechTalk before joining us on June 8.