Integrating patient accessibility within provider apps creates a one-stop solution, says Walid Kattan, BeeHealthy Regional Director Middle East
As healthcare pivots to adapt to the new normal, many sector experts agree that patients should hold the key to their own health. Gone are the days when the doctor – the man in the white coat – ‘knew’ what was wrong with each of us. Nowadays, with knowledge at our fingertips, we can research our own symptoms and then find the correct professional to help us.
From here, the debate is how to achieve streamlined healthcare without accessing a multitude of apps for each issue. It should be possible to have a patient’s healthcare records all in one place, but this ideal situation isn’t as easy as it sounds. However, BeeHealthy has created a single app to give accessibility to patients, offering a seamless healthcare journey with adaptive symptom checking, easy-to-use online booking, referrals and e-prescriptions, and all personal health data securely available within a single app 24/7.
This solution surprisingly comes from a healthcare company that’s 114 years old. As part of the Mehiläinen Group, a private health group provider in Finland, Estonia, Sweden and Germany, BeeHealthy has a solid base. Customers include corporations, insurance providers, private individuals and the public sector. With 820 clinics, more than 33,000 healthcare professionals and 2.1m patients per 5m population per year, it was an unusual move for a healthcorp to design an in-house platform that could potentially revolutionise the delivery of healthcare.
BeeHealthy is a modular, white-label SaaS solution equipping providers with all the features for building a modern digital physical health care service provision. It enables clients to leverage their own brand with a secure, scalable and compliant cloud-based platform harnessed to continuous and innovative development. It focuses on holistic patient engagement with six core modules that have flexible integrations to EMR and other systems. And it has hit its peak at the exact time that healthcare is searching for digital solutions that integrate across the board, bringing together not only national systems but also international ones, enabling patients to seamlessly move from one provider to another, confident that their health records are keeping pace.
Now BeeHealthy is looking to move into new markets in the Middle East. Walid Kattan, Region Director for the Middle East, has an academic background in information technology and marketing, and dedicated professional path in technology, innovation and enhancing healthcare systems. Here he tells Healthcare World how BeeHealthy can revolutionise the way healthcare is delivered globally.
How do you think BeeHealthy can bring value to the Middle East’s uptake of digital healthcare?
BeeHealthy’s enterprise patient engagement platform brings a unique solution to healthcare providers and payors that allows them to introduce new digital provision models that integrate fragmented healthcare technologies into one patient-centric application. The fact that we’ve developed this solution in a 114 year old healthcare business, and have now deployed this across 10 countries with different healthcare systems and populations, brings trust to this space and the region. Technology is evolving at an incredible pace, and it’s critical for healthcare providers to embrace these changes with curiosity and care. While BeeHealthy is driving innovation in patient experience, our focus will always be on delivering proven solutions that meet patient expectations, while maintaining the high quality of care that our customers strive to deliver.
What does digitally-enabled healthcare look like?
Information and services have become readily available on-demand across many sectors, and healthcare is not immune from this change in patients’ expectations. Healthcare providers are having to deliver higher value to their patients in many ways such as:
• Immediate access to doctors via telemedicine chat & video
• The ability to book a digital or physical appointment online instantly
• Seamless access to medical records and results as they are available
• Digital care plans that deliver outcomes for their patients with regular automated follow up to empower adherence.
Until now, healthcare providers have had to deploy multiple costly applications to fulfil all their healthcare administrative requirements. However, these can now be handled in one place.
This brings them:
• Efficiency and cost savings in care provision by offering self-service solutions to patients, tackling care personnel scarcity
• An increase in the efficiency of healthcare professionals with tools such as symptom checkers and pre-built responses
• Increased customer loyalty and acquisition by lowering barriers to care through on-demand services and expanding market presence
• The ability to deliver quality outcomes at scale by connecting physical and independent care for improved availability and earlier interventions.
How is your one-stop solution able to bring together all the different providers and records?
Providing medical records and history, as well as measurements through care plans and surveys, empowers patients to take their health care into their own hands. Patients can now easily share this information with their healthcare providers to ensure they receive the best care.
How does BeeHealthy help consumers to understand the benefits of controlling their own personal health?
BeeHealthy’s solutions enable patients to understand and become fully immersed in their own health. We do this via three main pillars to:
• Educate: Provide information on how personal health management can lead to better health outcomes. Beehealthy offers 16 different programmes related to mental wellbeing and sleep, nutrition and weight management, physical activity and exercise, substance abuse and problem gambling as well as mental disorders.
• Empower: Give tools that allow patients to track their health, set goals, and make informed decisions.
• Engage: Use gamification and personalised feedback to encourage active participation in their health journey. All programmes include coach support and weekly themes and tasks.
How do digital tools enhance efficiency in healthcare?
Digital solutions can provide many opportunities to enhance efficiency, such as:
• Emphasising chat-based consultations over traditional phone and video calls. While providing flexibility and ease of access to patients, BeeHealthy’s professional portal delivers tools that enable physicians to complete an average of 10-15 consultations an hour vs the traditional 3-4 in a video or physical settings, all while maintaining the quality of care and health outcomes.
• A Symptom Checker can automate a list of pre-set questions that provide a physician with an anamnesis to streamline consultations and ensure a complete account of the medical episode.
• For payors, the Digital Clinic can provide an efficient gatekeeper, supporting patients’ needs that can be treated effectively via a remote chat.
• Online booking tools can significantly reduce call centre burdens & costs (by 30 – 50 per cent) allowing staff to focus on other priority and revenue generating activities.
And how do they drive cost-savings and increase revenue?
• Digital solutions such as the white-labelled BeeHealthy application help providers market their services and provide lower barriers to care through on-demand and continuous 24×7 availability or comprehensive care services, ensuring patient convenience while fortifying and expanding market presence and nurturing customer loyalty.
• They provide the ability to explore and test new revenue streams by cross-selling services to patients and attracting new customers through the creation of innovative digital services.
• They deliver a higher referral booking rate by providing in-app reminders and easy booking to ensure patients are continuing their care and /or lab tests.
What is your vision for healthcare in the future?
Healthcare in the future needs to break down barriers to entry and empower patients to take ownership of their health. This could be by providing;
• Personalised care: Treatments and health plans that are tailored to individual genetic profiles, lifestyles, and preferences. Care that a patient is more likely to adhere to.
• Preventive Focus: Emphasis on preventing disease through lifestyle management and early detection using digital monitoring tools.
• Global Accessibility: High-quality healthcare is accessible to everyone, regardless of location, through digital platforms.
• Integrated Wellness: Healthcare extends beyond treating illness to encompass overall wellness, including mental health, nutrition, and exercise, supported by digital tools.
This vision aligns with the global trend towards patient-centred care, where technology empowers individuals to take an active role in managing their health and wellness. BeeHealthy’s approach to digital healthcare can be a significant contributor to this future landscape.