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On the latest Revenue and Healthcare Innovation series edition, Dan Murdoch hosted Tony Ambrozie, Senior Vice President and Chief Digital and Information Officer at Baptist Health South Florida. Tony, featured on Becker’s Hospital Review of ‘35 Hospital And Health System Chief Digital Officers To Know List’ in 2023, shared incredible insights on the healthcare industry's transformation. As a specialist at Baptist Health, Tony’s views reflect what he considers the most important aspects of technology in healthcare – a focus on consumer experiences. Read more to know what the Adonis partnership with Baptist Health means and how it impacts revenue in healthcare innovation.
What are some of the biggest challenges healthcare and hospital systems want to solve in 2023 and beyond?
The biggest challenge to healthcare in general, not just in the United States, is that it has lagged in digital technology. Tony believes that technology and digital experiences are limited in healthcare.
Drawing attention to the gap in consumer experience, he mentioned that the healthcare industry needs to rise to the challenge by meeting customer expectations through interactions. He envisions that the evolution of caring for individual needs will soon go beyond the traditional model.
What's required to manufacture and deploy change and realize great digital experiences?
The customer experience is key to change and transformation. “You have to have a maniacal focus on what the buyer, the customer, the consumer, the patient may need. We must think about what that person sees, feels, experiences, and how well it works.”
For change to be realized, Tony emphasizes that we must consider experiences that look good and not-so-good. We should look at design thinking principles and understand customers' needs, wants, and behavior. This process can take time as you return to consumers for their input. Thinking consistently about them and their needs can make a difference.
Tony feels that evolving has become important with the technology and capabilities we have today. He mentions how solutions like machine learning can simplify what consumers see and suggests that even AI can transform their experience.
What are your predictions on AI's role in creating better healthcare experiences?
Careful to avoid the hype, Tony advises that we need to consider tools like AI by reflecting on what they can do now and in the future. The peril, especially in healthcare, is to ignore trends because skepticism would have been applied to digital transformation only a few years ago. As time went on, it became a reality.
“I think there are a lot of immense opportunities on the clinical operation side and the restrictive operation side where we can bring these things. It's probably a combination of AI and automation, often called Intelligent Automation, that will bring the change.”
Of course, he states that while new chatbots can assist patients and care providers, they can also offer supplementary aid. Patients can receive indicators that they need to consult with a human specialist. In turn, the human expert has the necessary specialization and training to ensure that the AI is accurate.
On Revenue Cycle Management(RCM), what types of innovation are required here?
As a patient and expert, Tony has noticed that providers, payers, and pharma have incredible challenges in clinical operations. An opportunity here is that automation can streamline some processes, such as validating insurance, verifying eligibility, and pre-authorizations or post-submission of claims.
The innovation can help providers and payers and provide consumers with even better experiences. By solving the challenges in RCM, organizations like Baptist Health can create predictability within revenue collection. This kind of innovation can be the gasoline for the engine that provides an amazing patient experience and care.
What challenges do you anticipate Adonis will help you overcome in revenue cycle management?
Adonis can help us overcome some challenges we currently face in the consumer space. These hurdles include:
- Insurance verification: Does the patient have insurance? Did it change?
- Validation: Does the patient have what they need now?
- Simplifying complicated things: How do we automate building and submitting the charges to insurance companies?
Tony pictures being able to walk into a healthcare center and not even having to take his phone from his pocket to use an app. He would just show up, and everything he needed would happen.
Indeed, there are challenges facing healthcare, but visionaries like Tony and Baptist Health are ready to meet them head-on. Tony is optimistic about the future and adamant that focusing on the right things should be a priority.
At Adonis, this reality would be wonderful, and the innovators at Baptist Health challenge us to think better and create better ways to revolutionize healthcare for the benefit of all consumers.
