Page 37 - Mobility Management, January 2018

4Promote Connected and Integrated Outcomes
While I am not personally living with a disability, and I would never pretend to understand all of the challenges, I have come to understand that independence, mobility, access and overall health, along with inclusiveness and equality are fundamental needs everyone deserves. Within and outside of the CRT industry, many companies, healthcare professionals, and health plan providers aim to deliver on many of these outcomes. There are a multitude of solutions targeted at various aspects of mobility.
But while all these entities are trying to deliver quality results for our customers, we are doing so independently. What if we studied and drove the clinical and economic outcomes in a more integrated fashion? Might this change our perspectives and strategic actions on technological innovation and investment? I believe it would. A complete 360-degree view of the customer’s needs provides a different perspective of how our processes and products could be optimized.
A relevant comparison is how Apple® approached application development. When they created an open architecture for the iPhone and iPad encouraging external developers to create apps on their platform, it opened up innovation acceleration never seen before. I believe we have a similar opportunity across CRT and the adjacent spaces that service the same customer such as home accessibility, accessible vehicles, prosthetics, transferring devices, medical supplies, wound care, medication and the like. For us, it may not be about app development necessarily, but a more connected approach to better outcomes would create a focus on creating products and services to be more compatible and synergistic in how they benefit the end-user.
Of course to effectively make this happen we would need to address the lack of cohesion across our industry that makes compatibility a challenge, as well as monitoring and reporting on outcomes. As discussed, more innovative and progressive models will produce consistency and standardization in data collection and processes that will facilitate the promotion of connected and integrated outcomes.
The impact of this could do several things. One, it may lead
to a more powerful statement of medical necessity based on
a collection of relevant inputs vs. individualized arguments, which could result in a higher chance for approval. Second,
it creates the potential for cost synergies by optimizing the overall set of products and services an individual requires.
For example, reducing the need for home modifications with mobility equipment designed to create more accessibility and functionality. Lastly, it is likely to ignite innovation to streamline processes and technology compatibility. The impact of this to the overall customer experience in terms of reducing frustrations and improving communications would be transformative.
What you can do to help:
• Look “upstream” and “downstream” from your
processes to identify points of integration outside your normal purview to better serve the customer
• Embrace more progressive models that deliver consistency and standardization in data collection and processes and enable connected outcomes
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