• The digital transformation of patient care passes through efficiently integrating all the relationship channels and eliminating the barriers between the physical and digital worlds to impact health results

• The experience, combined with the application of disruptive technologies, like IoT, Big Data and Artificial Intelligence, enables immediate access to information on behalf of citizens and health services alike, which, beyond treating illnesses, can help patients prevent diseases and improve their quality of life

Madrid, May 31, 2018.- Models based on the omnichannel experience, that is, the integration of all the channels used by citizens to interact with the system or health authorities, are the foundation of new patient-centered strategies to create long-term relationships that allow for offering a more personalized care, while also improving the population's health results and optimizing the sector's costs.

The "Health toward the Omnichannel Experience" report, just presented by Minsait, Indra's digital transformation unit, identifies the eight, key vectors that are the pillars of the omnichannel experience and that will be one of the drivers of change in this sector: accessibility, customization, fluidity and ubiquity, value-based health, end-to-end services, Smart Data, Artificial Intelligence and Internet of Medical Things (IoMT).

"The population's hyperconnection has resulted in citizens who are better informed and eager to participate in decision-making on their own health, making it necessary for the sector's entities to use technology as an element that enables a new two-way model to transform the current business, digitalizing interactions and operations to improve patient access and optimize costs," explains Ángel Hortal, Indra's Director of New Offering and Digital Transformation of Healthcare.

The new omnichannel experience model must also promote the integration of the entire ecosystem (health centers, hospitals, institutions, citizens and external sources) to ensure the availability of information in any area of healthcare and ensure accessibility, efficiency and quality of the services provided. "The goal is to eliminate the barriers between the physical and digital worlds and define a relationship model that enables the empowerment of patients and citizens, promotes a healthy lifestyle, disease prevention and faster access to services and products," says Ángel Hortal.  

According to this study, the new model must facilitate the creation of an emotional bond with the patient, acknowledge the patients' concerns and needs and, based on both of these, align the strategy with the population's expectations, transforming the results into value for the patients and the organization alike. 

"The patient becomes the main axis around which companies and health services must ground all the experiences offered at both in-person and digital levels, from requesting a medical appointment to dispensing medication," declares Ángel Hortal. 

The combination of the eight key vectors highlighted in the report allows for posing scenarios in response to the challenges faced by health organizations in a continuous relationship model that considers all citizen interaction points.

From accessibility to value-based health 

First, we must highlight accessibility. According to the study, the new model should optimize management of the demand, and this is possible by launching the transformation through a commonly-used channel, like the smartphone, and for a basic service, like requesting an appointment. "It has been shown that the smartphone is used much more than the rest of the channels for appointment management purposes, thus transforming this service into a lever for the incorporation of more digital initiatives. In addition, it entails significant advantages, like cutting down wait times and scheduling errors and, therefore, of costs," explains Ángel Hortal.

Experts at Minsait also consider that the customization of products and services offered is key, not only based on each individual's preferences or health profile, but also on one's life moment. Along these lines, organizations of the sector are, for example, redirecting their strategies toward models that support efforts related with prevention and health promotion. The report recommends using the patient experience as a driver of change and for designing developments for those technologies already in use by the public and with already-established standards of the healthcare industry to reduce risks associated with rollout and ensure acceptance. 

The new omnichannel experience must also be agile, fluid and ubiquitous, or in other words, eradicate barriers such as the location, time and information silos ("wherever and however") and promote the coming together of physical and digital worlds in the same experience. To achieve this, we need to have interoperable systems, digitize and automate processes such as triage (clinical risk management when demand and clinical needs exceed resources) and incorporate new doctor-patient interaction systems to relieve consultations and emergency services, as well as consolidate mobile first strategies (priority in access to health services via mobile devices) for the relocation of medical services.

An important driver that will act as a springboard for the sector is the transition toward "value-based health", which aims to promote risk models shared by all actors. "The idea is to include new payment and remuneration systems that, instead of for activities, take into account keeping patients as healthy as possible, a model that will not only reduce the financial burden of the public healthcare system but will also promote personalized health insurance coverage," indicates Ángel Hortal. To achieve this, it is necessary to rely on technologies that facilitate effective data exploitation and clinical risk stratification, as well as educate the population and raise awareness to promote healthy lifestyles and reduce the impact of preventable diseases.

Another of the basic pillars of the new experience is to cover all the citizen contact points with the healthcare system through new services and support models. "The point is to offer patients the possibility of completing all actions, from start to finish, from the contact point being used and, if continuing from another system, that the system reminds the patient which point of the experience he or she was last at," explains Ángel Hortal. The report highlights the crucial role played in this realm by the clinical history, as a connection point, together with the investment in CRM, IoT and integration platforms, that enable the construction of connections and the capacities required for implementing the relationship models across all stakeholders.

The contribution of data

The study also highlights the role of digital technologies as vectors of innovation and essential support for generating and adding value to the benefit of the organization, healthcare professionals and patients, to provide a personalized omnichannel experience.  

For Minsait, the intelligent use of data, or Smart Data, is key for providing real value that impacts a population's health results by combining clinical information with that provided by other external data sources, on two levels: analytical level to improve healthcare and administrative processes (for example, to stratify clinical risk in a given population) and predictive level (for example, to predict epidemics or identify activity peaks in a hospital). The major technological challenge is to evolve toward interoperable and open information sources that feed on internal data and data provided by stakeholders and patients to provide customized services and solutions. 

Likewise, Artificial Intelligence -one of the technologies with greatest prospects for Minsait- allows to increasingly relocate health services through automated patient assessment solutions, redirect the efforts of clinical professionals toward those areas of greatest need, and integrate a vision based on real data, surpassing the professional's own experience. According to the study, the main lines are focused on the recognition of disease patterns and systems to support decision-making, although it also warns that a long road still lies ahead to humanize the interaction through solutions like chatbots.

Finally, the report stresses that the contribution of the Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) is key to accelerate the digitization of the sector given that, within the multichannel experience, it is conceived as another point of contact between people and health organizations, not only to transfer patients' information in real time, but also to promote personalized service models and improve patients' adherence to treatment, in addition to promoting self-management of disease. In this case, the challenge resides in enhancing the interoperability of all devices with health systems and operations platforms, as well as promoting their use through gamification. 

About Minsait

Minsait (www.minsait.com) is Indra's digital transformation business unit and its offering focuses on achieving immediate and tangible results. Indra has grouped its entire digital business technology and consulting solutions under Minsait, which has established itself as one of the leading companies in said market in Spain. Minsait is characterized for its differential methodology, a broad portfolio of business solutions, a proprietary and unique sales model, delivery and support aimed at impact generation, and a flexible organization based on multidisciplinary teams, comprised of specialists with very specific profiles. Minsait complements the high-value offering of Indra's other vertical markets, steering the company toward the key businesses of its customers as a driving force to accelerate Indra's growth.

About Indra

Indra is one of the world's top technology and consulting companies and a technology partner for the key operations of its customers' businesses worldwide. It is a leading worldwide provider of proprietary solutions in niche areas in Transport and Defense Markets and the absolute leader in IT in Spain and Latin America. It offers a comprehensive range of proprietary solutions and cutting edge services with a high added value in technology based on a unique culture of reliability, flexibility and adaptability to the needs of its customers. Indra is a world leader in the development of end-to-end technology solutions in fields such as Defense and Security, Transport and Traffic, Energy and Industry, Telecommunications and Media, Financial Services, Electoral Processes, and Public Administrations and Healthcare. Minsait is Indra’s digital transformation business unit. In 2017 Indra posted a revenue of €3.011 billion, employed 40,000 professionals, and had a local presence in 46 countries plus sales operations in more than 140 countries.