Article
by Ain Aaviksoo, MD MPH | Senior Healthcare Advisor
Proactive healthcare: The route to better health
The healthcare models that predominate today originated out of a need to treat acute illnesses in the end of 19th century. Populations were smaller and younger, and a purely reactive approach – treating symptoms when they appear – was, for a while, the best we could expect. But not any more.
Today, our needs are very different. Chronic illnesses, such as cancer, heart disease and type-2 diabetes, account for half of the worldwide burden of disease and populations are ageing; by 2050, the World Health Organization predicts that 426 million people will be over the age of 80, up from 143 million in 2019.
Medical treatments alone are not enough to create healthy nations in the future. Yet, we have the technology available to support an entirely different healthcare model. One that is proactive rather than reactive, which focuses on prevention and early detection, and which is tailored to the individual. This is our multidimensional approach to healthcare – a ‘6P’ vision which is proactive, predictive, preventative, personalized, participatory and performance-based.
Introducing 6P healthcare
The switch from a reactive to a proactive mindset – where healthcare emphasizes preventive measures, early interception of health issues, and active patient involvement – is at the core of the 6P model.
The biggest shift in healthcare will come when patients are willing and able to take the lead in managing their own health. To do this, they need to be adequately informed and equipped with the right tools. The healthcare system can then adjust from passive mode, where it waits for patients to appear with symptoms, to a proactive partner that creates tailored health plans for citizens based on their vulnerabilities and risk profile, and gently supports and nudges them to take the right action before their health deteriorates. The focus will be on management of risk and disease prevention through predictable, preplanned and often prebooked encounters with the health system and providers.
So how does this work in practice? Proactive healthcare starts with good communication; partnership approach between healthcare providers and patients strengthens mutual understanding and leads to better care.
Putting the patient in control
The development of multi-channel digital platforms for patient engagement is one of the most promising innovations for proactive healthcare. We have already successfully designed and implemented mobile solutions that help patients engage with healthcare providers or insurers and manage routine tasks such as ordering repeat prescriptions electronically. Our transformation of Lithuania’s national health record system into a centralized electronic national register, for example, features intuitive web-based portals for doctors, administrators and pharmacists that give rapid access to information and test results. Our e-prescription solution in Germany allows patients to securely manage their prescriptions. The health insurance platform in UAE dramatically improves claims management for both sides. All these solutions have led to a significant increase in patient engagement.
These solutions also put the relevant data into patients’ hands and encourage them to take the lead in their own wellbeing. They also facilitate reaching out to patients proactively and therefore improve adherence to treatment plans through innovations such as push notification reminders. This participatory approach typically also results in a more positive healthcare experience and leads to an overall improvement in patient satisfaction with the care they receive.
But this is just the beginning of technology-driven proactive healthcare. A fully proactive approach, for example, would present a patient with a selection of options of prebooked screening appointments from which to select with one click, rather than just ask them to take part in a screening. It would also anticipate the routine healthcare needs of individuals at exactly the right time. This is, in fact, is already becoming a reality – we have designed and built a one-stop-shop for digital services where the registration of the birth of a child sets in motion an automatic activation of key welfare and health follow-on services (such as vaccinations) without the need for parents to apply.
A value-driven healthcare model
Advanced data analysis offers even more potential for proactive healthcare, such as helping to quantify an individual’s risk factors for disease, which leads to personalized plans of preventive care. At least 80% of incidences of heart disease, stroke, and type-2 diabetes, along with over 40% of cancers, are avoidable. On the other hand – more resources can be made available by predictive planning of just the right healthcare resources without hampering the care delivery capacity, like in this recent example from Finland.
New and easily accessible technologies – from wearables to telemedicine and predictive analytics solutions – are bringing proactive healthcare closer by the day and create the landscape for a shift towards a value-driven healthcare model. But proactive healthcare requires a fundamental psychological shift for healthcare providers and individuals. Healthcare providers will no longer wait for patients to show up at their door, and people will be well informed and take greater responsibility for their own health and quality of life.
Achieving change is never easy but the potential benefits are considerable. For patients, proactive healthcare means improved health outcomes and greater control. It can lead to cost savings for both the health system and patients by refining diagnoses, freeing up hospital beds and expanding access to medical professionals.
Our '6P' vision
Achieving change is never easy but the potential benefits are considerable. For patients, proactive healthcare means improved health outcomes and greater control. It can lead to cost savings for both the health system and patients by refining diagnoses, freeing up hospital beds and expanding access to medical professionals.
This is our multidimensional approach to healthcare – a ‘6P’ vision which is proactive, predictive, preventative, personalized, participatory, and performance-based.
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