Institute: What are some of your top initiatives for 2015?
Willis: We will continue to create and improve our patient engagement applications, focusing on building tools which allow patients to easily gather their information from all their providers and interact with their providers and researchers in a seamless way. We have a very exciting year ahead of us and feel our tools will change the way patients view and participate in healthcare.
Institute: What are 2-3 of the top challenges in engaging patients?
Willis: We have come from a history of decades where a single provider was completely in charge of all aspects of a patient’s care. Medicine has changed in the last decade and most patients have numerous providers spread over multiple healthcare organizations. Patients need to take a more active role in coordinating their own care (or the care of a loved one). We have not completely crossed over to the point where patients understand they have the right to receive their health information and don’t really know how to become “engaged”. To truly become engaged, patients need their health information, the tools to consolidate them, educational material to understand their condition and options, and the understanding that they are not only legally empowered to participate in their care…but providers are seeking and needing their input.