The ‘space between’ has captivated Richard Antonelli’s attention for more than 20 years now, and he’s about to launch a number of projects that will address that vulnerable gap between one doctor’s visit and the next, or hospitalization and home. It’s all part of his care coordination work.
The work is part of what he calls his “strategic charge to meaningfully engage patients and families in their own care – patient self-management.”
“Care coordination is an area that is getting increasing attention,” Antonelli told Healthcare IT News. “It is clear that it is part of the solution to make healthcare safer and more cost effective. But up to now, the resources allocated to the ‘space between’ has been pretty sparse.”
Antonelli, a primary care pediatric physician and medical director of integrated care at Boston Children’s Hospital, has maybe a dozen coordinated care initiatives in mind; several of them ready to go.
Through Boston Children’s partnership with the Verizon Foundation, one of the projects – care mapping – is expected to launch before the year is out. Antonelli has already lined up partners across the country, and in Canada and Europe as well. [Newsmaker Q&A with Antonelli, P. 38].
He plans to use care mapping as a process to engage patients and families in their own care, and to use that as a driver to support a care partnership between the patient, family and the healthcare system itself. The care map could be accessed online, in the EMR or on a smart phone.
Antonelli is particularly excited about this project, he said, because “it will be pretty dramatic disruption of how care coordination activities are carried out.”
The care-mapping project is one fruit of a Salon event called “Empowering Pediatric Care Through Technology,” which was convened by the Verizon Foundation Dec. 3, 2012. The dinner conversation included leaders representing families, nonprofit organizations, quality improvement groups, policymakers and providers – 23 people in all.
Anthony Llompart, director of healthcare programs for the Verizon Foundation, explains that Verizon has a history of funding projects to solve tough global problems. But, beginning in 2012, the foundation shifted its approach to finding the right partners to highlight what technology can do to solve them.
“One of the things that we knew for sure is that Verizon is not a healthcare provider, and it doesn’t have deep expertise in healthcare, “Llompart said. “So if we were going to go into the healthcare space, we needed to listen to the voices in the space: subject matter experts, mothers dealing with children with special needs, small startups and some people in the industry.”
“We have a vision that we should try and offer technology, which is our strength, to nonprofit organizations that are delivering care today,” he added, “and then we should also convene the people who know the subject to discuss and offer insight around what some of the challenges are around children’s healthcare and what the promise of technology might be able to deliver in that space.”
“Chronic diseases are a critical concern in the U.S., particularly among underserved children who are disproportionately affected by these conditions,” said Rose Stuckey Kirk, president of the Verizon Foundation, in a statement. “Our evolving relationship with Boston Children’s Hospital seeks to find common ground among patients’ families, advocates of care delivery system redesign and healthcare professionals to improve the ability of families to access and take advantage of the daily care and disease management that is crucial to positive health outcomes.”
“Healthcare delivery has barely begun to apply communications technology, but the time is now and the means are at hand,” said Antonelli. “The beneficiaries of this innovative work will be children and adolescents with chronic conditions, as well as their families and caregivers.” While the work is focused on children with chronic conditions, Antonelli noted that it is broadly applicable. “Many of the aspects of that care coordination framework, apply across the age spectrum,” he said.
Antonelli plans to employ an array of technology to achieve his goals.
“Some of the work that I’m doing actually is in urban core, and some of the work that I’m doing is in some of the most remote areas of the United States, in very rural areas,” he said. “And, so, the diversity of technologies to leverage this is something that we intend to build on as a strength. It’s not a single platform. It’s not a single technology. But, the good news is, I don’t need 20 years of developmental funding. I believe that extant technology can be appropriately adapted and focused to support care coordination.”