Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/1191144
25 PATIENT EXPERIENCE Baltimore program distributes Amazon Echos to help seniors locate social services By Andrea Park A ne w initiative will distribute Amazon Echo devices to seniors living in Baltimore's affordable housing communities to provide access to voice-assisted search for local free and reduced-cost social services. e Connect2Affect Connected Communities program is collaboration between the AARP Foundation and Aunt Bertha, a national network of social assistance programs. e technology will help seniors locate food pantries, transportation, tax preparation and other services near their homes. e Baltimore region is the first to launch the program. Connect2Affect's goal is to eliminate any barriers keeping seniors from the social assistance they need, Aunt Bertha CEO and founder Erine Gray said in a statement. Offering voice search eases the physical and technological process of locating social services, and providing the technology directly to seniors' homes also removes any fear or stigma associated with reaching out for help in public. n Market segmentation can improve patient engagement, outreach strategy By Andrea Park M arket segmentation, in which consumers are grouped into categories that then define how they are engaged and sup- ported, is still a relatively new concept in healthcare, but can greatly benefit the industry's push toward a patient-centric model. New insights from market intelligence company Infiniti Research de- scribe four ways in which market segmentation will serve as an advan- tage to the new focus on consumerism in healthcare: Patient engagement: Interacting with patients based on behaviors and attitudes, rather than simply clinical information, will allow providers to build deeper, more meaningful relationships with their patients. Healthcare marketing: Patients are unlikely to all respond the same way to a single marketing message; segmentation will not only guide providers in the creation of multiple segment-specific outreach plans but also save money that would be wasted on a broader, less effective marketing strategy. Distribution strategy: Knowing where specific groups of patients are geographically based can help healthcare organizations better decide which providers and services to offer in each of their coverage areas. Product and service development: Similarly, by monitoring how dif- ferent subsets of patients respond to current offerings, providers can determine where gaps exist and develop new products and services to bridge those gaps. n Consumerism is 2nd biggest challenge facing healthcare execs in 2020 By Andrea Park P erfecting the consumer experience is one of the most pressing tasks on healthcare leaders' to-do lists in 2020, according to the HealthCare Executive Group's annual "Top 10" list of the primary opportunities and challenges facing its members. Healthcare executives were surveyed about the biggest issues of 2020, with their re- sponses ultimately compiled into this year's Top 10 list. The consumer experience was ranked at No. 2, despite not having made the list at all since 2016, when it took first place. In recent years, consumerism has taken different forms on the list, under the labels of "total consumer health" and "the engaged digital consumer." On the 2020 list, the challenge of the con- sumer experience is described as "under- standing, addressing and assuring that all consumer interactions and outcomes are easy, convenient, timely, streamlined and cohesive so that health fits naturally into the 'life flow' of every individual's, family's and community's daily activities." Here is the full 2020 Top 10 list: 1. Costs and transparency 2. Consumer experience 3. Delivery system transformation 4. Data and analytics 5. Interoperability/consumer data access 6. Holistic individual health 7. Next-generation payment models 8. Accessible points of care 9. Healthcare policy 10. Privacy/security n