As dust from the digital health boom settles, health systems are navigating a changed healthcare landscape where consumers now expect to receive care through a hybrid of virtual and in-person models.
They’re also facing increased financial pressure from inflation and an economic recession, and rising labor costs that are shrinking already razor-thin profit margins.
Digital tools need to demonstrate immediate and long term ROI, improving the quality of patient care as well as the bottom line, to differentiate themselves in an oversaturated market.
Babyscripts was designed with and for clinicians, and with 8+ years in the space, we’ve continued to develop our product with input from our strategic health system and health plan partners, to maximize value for stakeholders in the maternity care space.
This article is the first in a series to demonstrate how Babyscripts can improve the bottom line without sacrificing quality of care, patient safety, or provider experience.
Optimize the visit schedule
Babyscripts’ remote monitoring allows providers to replace some in-person visits with virtual care, opening up appointments and freeing provider time to focus on higher-risk patients, while still capturing the global fee.
With more space in the schedule, practices can address their patient backlog and schedule elective GYN procedures that drive higher revenue, like IUD insertion or cancer screening. Some practices have been forced by labor shortages to deprioritize these lucrative procedures to focus on OB, and run the risk of losing patients as well as money. Patients facing long wait times to schedule elective procedures are more likely to start shopping for other options, including direct-to-consumer solutions.
Babyscripts increased patient volume at an urban academic medical center and generated $330 additional revenue per pregnant patient. Download the case study here.
The transition from the traditional 12-14 visit schedule to a hybrid virtual model has industry support, aligning with a recent initiative from ACOG to reevaluate the design of prenatal care. A panel of independent maternity care experts, convened by ACOG and the University of Michigan, published the Plan for Appropriate Tailored Healthcare in Pregnancy (PATH) recommendations after reviewing the evidence around current models of care delivery. Among other changes, PATH recommends the hybrid model of care that Babyscripts’ RPM facilitates.
While some have voiced concerns that patients might be dissatisfied with a reduced in-person schedule, data shows that there is consumer appetite for less visits, particularly for low risk pregnancies. Babyscripts patient users report a high level of satisfaction with RPM, and have expressed that the solution makes them feel safer, knowing that their care team is monitoring them. Babyscripts’ exception monitoring model ensures that actionable data is escalated to the provider, avoiding data overwhelm while giving patients and providers security that nothing is falling through the cracks.
Maximize staff resources
Babyscripts’ asynchronous solution doesn’t require constant staff oversight or management. Without the necessity for a human on the other end of the solution, practices can maximize their resources while capturing more data than in a synchronous, in-office appointment. Our proprietary algorithms and 24/7 call center ensures that blood-pressure related events will be escalated through the protocol established for regular or after-hours emergencies so that providers receive the data they need without constantly checking in.
With compliance reminders automated through the app, Babyscripts reduces the amount of time it takes staff to follow up on patient compliance to BPs and other checklist items, enabling hospitals to maintain the same patient load even with reduced staff.
One of the biggest pain points in homegrown solutions or insular EMR-driven initiatives is the lack of automation. They require multiple nurses to track non-compliant patients and manually follow up with them, to keep them adherent to care protocols and monitoring programs. Committing staff to following patients who are receiving care virtually eliminates one of the most significant benefits of virtual models, which is why automation is critical to achieving ROI.
A digital education layer can also free up staff resources. It provides an important safety-net while cutting back on unnecessary triage by reducing the amount of phone calls from patients seeking basic information. With the Babyscripts app, a mom can get answers about symptoms like nausea or access to practice specific info like birthing classes without needing to make a phone call to the office, or doing her own research on the internet and potentially creating bigger problems.
This is Part 1 of a continuing series on Achieving ROI through Babyscripts. Make sure to check out the rest of the series (Parts 2, 3, & 4!
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