How Healthcare CRM Solutions and ZDogg are Solving the Digital Divide for Providers

The healthcare industry is going through a significant transition, mostly, induced by HIT changes and system reform; in the process of these disruptive changes, thought leadership is trying to strategically develop a plan of action for reaching interoperability.

Interoperability is part of the holistic solution, as it works to connect patients with providers and share EHR clinical data with them and referrals. Let's discuss this topic more by examining how healthcare CRM solutions and ZDogg are solving the digital divide between providers and patients.

Defining the Digital Divide

This is a term that emerged most prominently after the “meaningful use” of EMRs became a requirement for providers on January 1, 2014. Since then, cloud and mobile computing technologies have also played a large part in the digital divide equation – mostly, trying to solve pain points with healthcare enterprise systems.

To learn more, let's look at two different articles written about a year apart from each other. The first is one from HiMSS, called: “Leveraging Digital Strategies to Address Health Disparities Part 2: Navigate the Digital Divide”, written on November 30, 2015 by Lygeia Ricciardi, which explains:

"...the overall proportion of Americans using health IT (defined as texting or emailing healthcare providers, using health apps, and accessing online test results) has been increasing for the last several years, though it's still under 50%...people who use health IT most are the wealthiest and most highly-educated. African Americans and Hispanics use it the least, while Whites and Asians use it the most."

Then we learn from a more recent article found on Healthcare IT News, called: “Healthcare's digital divide is getting bigger and other bad news from Black Book”, written on January 4, 2017 by Bernie Monegain,

"In spite of all the newest and greatest technology available to nurses, doctors, and hospital systems – and consumers – across the country, the digital divide is not only stubborn but it's also growing wider.

...Fifty-seven percent of consumers with access to hospital, physician or ancillary provider's technology in 2016 indicated being skeptical of the overall benefits of technology such as patient portals, mobile apps and electronic health records."

These articles show some of the challenges providers are experiencing when trying to integrate digital technology into their patient engagement strategies.

Providers, health plans, and vendors are all working toward streamlining care processes for providers and patients using innovative technologies; in the process of this development, they're discovering the digital divide issues creating gaps in patient engagement and daily workflows.

ZDoggMD's Perspective

Speaking of putting a finger on the pulse of providers, an article found on Tech Target, called: “One doc's journey to Health 3.0, the healthcare of the future”, written in 2016 by Kristen Lee, does just this by interviewing an outspoken doctor Zubin Damania, a.k.a. ZDogg, as he explains:

"' We're in this sort of weird limbo where the technology is expected to do the heavy lifting, but we haven't really transitioned...The human relationship...it's gone.'

...Furthermore, he thinks physicians and patients have become commodities, and EHRs are a disaster and none of them talk to each other, he said.

...Damania's way of thinking about health IT is also reflected in his alternate persona, ZDogg. Damania takes mostly well-known songs from all genres of music and parodies them, re-writing the lyrics to reflect his opinions on a certain issue within health IT. The videos accompanying the songs are humorous and over the top."

Although ZDogg's perspective doesn't exactly pinpoint (or even mention) how healthcare CRM solutions are solving the digital divide, his humorous and honest approach are helping thought leadership get to the root problem. Also, his humorous assessment of the digital divide gives us an honest pulse of the providers themselves.

Here's ZDoggMD in action with his hit song "EHR State of Mind":

Mobile Solutions

An emerging theme from thought leadership is for providers to balance using technology with meaningful personal connections for effective patient engagement.

What this means in layman's terms is reaching patients where they're at and facilitating care processes through mobile solutions. At least, this is one of the most promising ways healthcare CRM solutions are helping to close the digital divide.

By harnessing the power of the cloud and mobile computing technology, providers can offer their patients a way to navigate and facilitate the entire care journey through their smartphones or mobile devices. In other words, a native mobile app, from the provider's healthcare CRM software, can streamline administrative and care functions with real-time automation and comprehensive functionality.

This may sound like another empty promise from technology, yet adopting a mobile-first strategy to improve patient engagement and close the digital divide makes plenty of sense, especially, considering we're living increasingly in a mobile-first world.

Healthcare CRM software with a native mobile app is only part of the overall solution to close the digital divide, yet it's a positive step that even ZDoggMD would likely approve of.

The Final Deception is Conservative and Religious

Politics are going according to the NWO's deceptive plan. Politics, History, and the NWO I’ve been taking a break from talking about politics lately, yet that doesn’t mean I feel any different about it. Being someone who doesn’t support Trump or the Dems makes it hard to get any traction with an audience. The truth is more nuanced than most people can handle. It is easier to simply pick a side and believe it without much critical thinking. Trump is speaking the common sense views of the majority of Americans who still have half a brain left after the many decades of brainwashing we’ve been subjected to. The big data algorithms have been gathering the views of every American, compiling them into meticulously organized data reports, so they know exactly what most people want to hear. The left are those who have accepted the brainwashed agenda without any critical thinking. They are the useful idiots the NWO has used brilliantly to create most of the problems that t...

An Ode to Grandpa Lee

An old-time pioneer amid modern vanity and "progress." The man stood tall in the wind with the sun beating down on his flat-brim cowboy hat. He was a working man, focused on his pioneer family in the western country they called home. Building and designing structures high and wide, the man skipped across wooden beams high in the air, under shadows cast only by moving clouds; wide open spaces watched the scene as death-defying feats were carried out in relative obscurity, as just another day of work. The man was an old-timer with relatively few years to boast, a before his time pioneer with an adventurous and loving wife plotting business in sagebrush lands far beyond the hyped city life bustling with seemingly meaningless activities. His skin was as leather, scorched in the sun and beaten with high winds containing drifting sand mixed with alkaline dirt. The dry mountain air in the high desert cleansed his heart with comfortable respite from the high temps and harsh weather e...

Brainwashed Into Low-Functioning Morons

When being normal is deemed crazy in a land of morons. Stay in the present and hold the line, as the machine-gun fire of death could be heard ever so clearly. People were falling dead and maimed with every shot given by the hateful enemy. The gruesome scene was covered in scarlet and purple with precious jewels in goblets of wine. The ancient agenda, the lockstep effort, and the social engineering program were ongoing and ever-expanding into the ears and souls of hapless victims, born and raised in the lie. How would they ever know? When the truth was told to them, they simply heard nonsense, madness — how could that be? Meanwhile, the war was waging, silent weapons, deceitful explanations told by greedy sell-outs, ignorant fools, heartless controllers, and brainwashed simpletons. The society was full of low-functioning morons — the diabolical objective was working. Behind pretense and seemingly logical rational, the management of the morons continued into the dawn of a new age; a gold...

Old Cars Are Better than New Ones

Cars are getting too complex with technology. Older and less expensive cars are better than new ones because they don’t overly rely on computer technology to function. What’s going to happen to these new computer cars in 20 years? They’ll be in the junkyard, as the computer was too expensive to fix. What’s worse, in 20 years, the oldest cars on the road will be around 20–30 years old — i.e., the new cars now! That means all cars will have too much technology built in — every non-manual digital function from the computer can go out and stop working, while manual issues are easier to fix. Another main reason why I like older cars is to have more freedom from control. Newer cars with computer junk can be shut off remotely from anywhere, hacked into, and governments and corporations can deny access to use. Why would I pay the exorbitant cost of owning a new car when: It will be in the junkyard in 15–20 years Can be controlled remotely It is expensive Are difficult/expensive to repair or ge...

Business and Society Articles

Search This Blog