Patient Engagement Leader CipherHealth Makes Healthcare Predictions for 2022, Coming Off Strong Momentum in 2021

NEW YORK, Nov. 30, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- CipherHealth, a recognized leader and innovator in patient-centered engagement and insights for the nation's leading healthcare systems, is riding a strong wave of momentum going into 2022, a year expected to be marked by accelerated innovation, transformation, and consolidation across the healthcare industry.  In 2021, CipherHealth saw a 55% surge in overall omni-channel interactions -- powered by its Patient Engagement Platform -- indicating higher adoption of applications and communications technology to help providers meet new demands brought on by the pandemic.  At the same time, given its proximity to the heartbeat of the healthcare technology market, CipherHealth leaders are sharing key predictions about the future of healthcare in 2022 and beyond.

After nearly two years of unprecedented disruption to the healthcare industry, hospitals and health systems share a renewed optimism that the pandemic has forced long overdue innovation in the healthcare space that will transform how care is delivered in a more virtualized and personalized manner, enabling providers to be more agile and meet the rising expectations of their consumers.

With customers including over 350 of the nation's leading healthcare providers, CipherHealth executives have compiled a list of key predictions based on their regular interactions with executives and care leaders on the front lines:

Providers will place even greater focus on staff well-being: Nursing shortages will unfortunately persist in 2022. Providers will need to do more with fewer people and look for technology and automation solutions that help offload repetitive manual tasks so that nurses, clinicians, and caregivers can be more focused on delivering care. Hospitals are proactively responding by placing greater focus and investment on recruitment, retention, health, and well-being. Compassion fatigue and disorders such as anxiety, depression, burnout, and even suicide will be dealt with in a more urgent manner and addressed strategically. — Joy Avery, MSN, RN, SVP, Clinical Services

Healthcare systems will double-down on pre-care patient activation and engagement: As health systems struggle to recoup lost revenue due to pandemic-related drops in elective procedures, wellness visits, and even emergent cases, there will be an increased focus on attracting patients back to their care providers. Leading hospitals will put a greater focus on making the pre-care stage of the patient journey as automated, personalized and intelligent as possible by investing more in "smart" chatbots and technologies to reduce friction in the patient experience. Serving as the "virtual waiting room," these technologies pave the way to fully automated workflows and provide the first line of defense against unnecessary and costly care. Still, chatbots can never replace human-to-human intervention, and machine learning will be increasingly leveraged to identify the right modality for every patient. — Mandana Varahrami, Chief Product Officer

Patient data generated outside of the health system will become more insightful and actionable than the information generated internally: We will see a rise in the use of alternative forms of data to augment traditional patient records and give more contextual and predictive insights into patients' future behavior and overall well-being. Some of the data will be patient-reported, captured, and stored at the point of care, although it may also potentially include consumer-level data about behaviors and attitudes toward health in their daily lives. But the big game-changer will be around engagement through multiple stakeholders and harnessing all the relevant actions and insights of staff, family, and caregivers that surround a patient. This network effect that surrounds a patient—when properly captured, analyzed, and managed—will give providers deeper insights than they ever thought possible. — Jeff Fuller, Vice President, Analytics Solutions

Providers will leverage more value from current investments: Many providers will recognize that while effective in the short-term, bespoke and homegrown applications may need to be reconsidered and even replaced with cloud-based solutions that integrate well with other systems. Health systems will continue to look at vendor consolidation and getting more out of fewer partners. — Nate Perry-Thistle, Chief Technology Officer

"In 2022, the emerging threats to traditional providers will become more real. The adoption of the retail model for the delivery of healthcare—through providers like Amazon, Walmart, Walgreens, and CVS—will continue to accelerate and raise the bar on what healthcare consumers expect," said CipherHealth Chief Executive Officer, Jake Pyles. "As non-traditional providers continue to grow in credibility, they'll also stand at a distinct advantage—they bring proximity, convenience, an ability to scale, and inherent visibility into patient shopping habits and behaviors. Traditional providers will need to adopt new technologies to improve experience, data-sharing, and engagement—and do it fast."

As health leaders prepare to meet the new challenges of an evolving landscape, CipherHealth stands well-positioned to guide them after a year of significant milestones, including:

• The release of its state-of-the-art Patient Engagement Platform, featuring a powerful digital orchestration engine managing all patient, staff, and caregiver communications. Operating across the entire continuum of care, the platform closes critical care gaps, improves key integrations with EHR systems to streamline communications and analytics, and enhances functionality like appointment reminders and family engagement.
• The hire of Chief Product Officer, Mandana Varahrami, who comes to the organization after a 20-plus-year career in the healthcare industry, with roles in public health research, public policy, consulting, and product management. Varahrami, who most recently served as Chief Product Officer at RapidDeploy, is poised to chart the next elevated stage of CipherHealth product development.
• Over 65 new hires and key cultural and workplace recognition from leading industry groups. Modern Healthcare once again named CipherHealth among its Best Places to Work in 2021, the seventh year the company has made the list.
• Key event appearances at leading industry events like HIMSS and the PX Symposium by CipherHealth customers including Community Health Network, Intermountain Healthcare to share their success stories with CipherHealth and their on-the-ground perspectives on the future of digital patient engagement. At CipherHealth's own Partners in Innovation event, key customers such as Banner Health, Northwell Health, Geisinger, and Penn Medicine shared real-life anecdotes and advice for how to optimize rounding, outreach, and engagement programs.

About CipherHealth
CipherHealth is an award-winning digital patient engagement company committed to enhancing communication and coordination throughout the care continuum. Since 2009, CipherHealth has helped define the patient engagement category, delivering groundbreaking tools and superior services to help health systems deliver patient-centric, quality care that improves clinical outcomes, drives operational efficiency, and creates sustainable financial value through a full suite of communications solutions. CipherHealths's automated, scalable platform empowers healthcare organizations to drive meaningful conversations among patients, provider staff and caregivers, regardless of care setting, thereby achieving new standards for patient care and accelerating the digital transformation of the industry.

Media Contact:
Shannon Mullins
Scratch Marketing + Media for CipherHealth
[email protected]

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SOURCE CipherHealth