The healthcare landscape is rapidly evolving thanks to advances in technology, changing regulations, shifting demographics, and consumer expectations. For hospital management teams, this has created a pressing need to adopt innovative care models that help deliver better outcomes, experiences, and value. Behavioral health management companies such as Horizon Health can provide guidance for transforming hospital operations through new care approaches.
Understanding the Forces of Change
Before exploring specific innovations, hospital executives need to understand the driving forces behind the need for new models of care delivery and management. Management really need to determine how to leverage technology more strategically.
Today’s healthcare consumers demand accessible, affordable care that is customized to individual needs, comparable to their experiences in other industries. Hospitals must meet these rising expectations and adopt a more consumer-focused mindset.
Taken together, these trends necessitate transitioning from siloed, reactive sick care to more proactive, coordinated care with seamless experiences across the continuum. Innovative care models are essential to this transformation.
Advancing Preventive Care
Preventive care looks to reduce the burden of disease through early screening, detection, education, and support services. With more focus on prevention, hospitals can reduce costs related to advanced disease while keeping communities healthier.
Innovative models include things like community-based preventive care programs addressing chronic conditions, pediatric health, senior care, and mental health. Hospitals can also implement workplace prevention programs working directly with employers and insurance groups. Integrative medicine services that combine traditional treatments with complementary wellness approaches hold much promise.
Leveraging analytics and wearables to identify patients at risk for preventable conditions means earlier intervention. Offering comprehensive screening, wellness advice, and health management tools through patient portals expands access to preventive services.
Coordinating Transitional Care
For patients moving across care settings – like going home after hospitalization – lack of coordination often leads to poor outcomes and avoidable readmissions. Transitional care looks to connect the dots to keep patients supported through care journeys.
Effective models include designating care coordinators to manage hand-offs between settings and schedule needed follow-ups. Standardizing treatment and discharge protocols ensures continuity. Providing after-hospital care instructions, medication guidance, and 24/7 access to questions prevents gaps. Remote monitoring through wearable devices identifies risks early. Hospital management must prioritize streamlining these transitions through technology, protocols, and dedicated resources.
Integrating Behavioral Health
Given links between physical and mental health, integrating behavioral care across medical specialties delivers better results. Models promoting integration include providing mental health screening and services in primary care clinics. Incorporating addiction treatment into emergency departments and trauma centers aligns with patient needs. Having psychiatrists, psychologists and therapists on care teams manages the behavioral aspects of conditions from cancer to chronic pain.
Implementing Virtual Health
Virtual health platforms enable patients to access care remotely through video visits, patient portals, and mobile apps. Benefits include convenience with expanded hours along with reduced transmission risks for contagious diseases. Virtual care lowers costs compared to in-office services and allows broader care team collaboration. Remote patient monitoring and mobile apps round out the model.
Elevating Patient Experiences
Patients expect healthcare experiences comparable to other consumer service interactions. Strategies for humanizing care include behavioral health training for staff to manage anxieties and build trust. Emphasizing cultural competency addresses diverse patient needs. Simplified, personalized communication makes patients feel heard. Designing welcoming, easy-to-navigate facilities also enhances experiences.
Conclusion
Adopting disruptive care models requires significant operational, technological and cultural transformation. Hospital boards and executives must provide committed leadership. Physician champions help drive clinical adoption. Behavioral health management consultants can advise on system-wide change management.
The future viability of hospitals depends on innovating today. Starting the transition in stages, constantly assessing impact, and engaging staff across the organization means hospitals can build the next generation of healthcare management and delivery.
