Session Title: What Do Patients Really Need?
40% of health outcomes are tied to social drivers. Plainly put, what’s happening in someone’s life has a significant impact on their health and well-being. For example, Patient A lacks access to transportation so he’s unable to fill his prescription. Patient B misses her radiation appointments because she has no one to care for her dog. In both of these examples, the patient’s life circumstances directly affect their ability to access proper care. And, while providers continue to achieve state-of-the-art medical advances, they have very limited tools to understand and address the needs of the whole patient. This lack of centralized support resources evokes a simple question: how do we figure out exactly what a patient needs and connect them to the right service?
Wellist was founded in 2013 as an online directory of support resources for patients and their families. Working with clients including Mass General Hospital, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, UPMC Hillman Cancer Center and MemorialCare Health System, Wellist has connected thousands of patients and families to resources including pharmacy delivery, transportation, pet care, grocery delivery and 40 other categories. Through rigorous upfront assessments, analysis of patient populations and insight gleaned from staff interviews, we’ve discovered that what the healthcare system thinks a patient wants may have nothing do with what they need most.
Kelly Hall, our Vice President of Client Delivery, and Nikki Vance, Senior Manager of Analytics, will lead a session on Wellist’s approach to using both data and compassion to better understand and address patient needs.
