Value-based care has led to much change in healthcare over the years, and COVID-19 is pushing change faster and even further. These changes forced by COVID-19 will have long-term effects on every aspect of care delivery; current healthcare tools and programs such as clinical pathways need to adjust to these changes to continue being helpful. Current shifts provide new opportunities with greater urgency for further change to aid in the evolution of the healthcare system.
COVID-19, with its stay-at-home requirements and restrictions on face-to-face interactions, has changed how care is delivered, and these changes will remain beyond this crisis. Indeed, actions by and learnings for all stakeholders (i.e., patients, payers, providers, policymakers) from the COVID-19 crisis will have long-term effects. These include changes to the entire patient journey from awareness to diagnosis to treatment and follow up—every aspect of care will be impacted. Clinical pathways are a fitting tool to accompany the new focus and collaborative mindset stakeholders have had (and must continue) to curate. Given how clinical pathways have evolved from simple treatment regimen guides to comprehensive guides for best practices along the entire patient journey, these shifts change everything, opening new opportunities with greater urgency.
In this article, EVERSANA’s Dr. Richard Stefanacci discusses the long-term effects of COVID-19 on every aspect of care delivery including increased involvement of government agencies, the evolving role of telemedicine, expanded use of nonphysician providers, and accelerated growth of a new combination of payers and providers, “payviders.”
Author
Richard has focused his career on improving health outcomes, especially for some of the most vulnerable populations. This has been achieved through several avenues, beginning with his continued active role as a treating internist/geriatrician.…