How A Simple New Tool Helps Doctors Care For Patients -- After They Leave The Office

We live in an increasingly connected world, but patients who receive treatment from multiple doctors and healthcare systems still face a lack of coordination in their care, which can put their health outcomes at risk. PatientPing is working to help doctors collaborate and create a more consistent experience for patients with simple technology that connects healthcare providers across facilities, systems and geographies. The PatientPing network gives providers real-time notifications, or “pings,” when their patients receive care, along with patient locations, history of visits, health provider contacts and guidelines for follow-up care.

The current system of connecting healthcare providers is “a hodgepodge of email and fax and phone calls,” said Jay Desai, co-founder and CEO of PatientPing. “You can imagine all the holes that creates when somebody forgets to call.” Every year, for example, the average elderly patient visits about seven providers across four facilities, said Desai. “Getting that whole team notified today is a very broken and disjointed process,” he said. “There isn’t a comprehensive solution.”

What’s more, the Affordable Care Act, which aims to expand insurance coverage for all Americans, changed payment incentives for healthcare providers. The goal is to reward them for the quality of care they provide, rather than the quantity of care, Desai said. The change gives healthcare providers new incentives to share and coordinate care, because they’re rewarded for the overall health outcome for the patient, rather than how many treatments they provide. It also creates a large market opportunity for PatientPing to help ensure that transitions between providers are both seamless and safe for each patient...