Three Takeaways from ViVE 2023

A few weeks ago, I had the distinct honor to represent 98point6 Technologies at ViVE 2023 in Nashville. While I’ve been back on the road for about 18 months now, I still relish the time spent in-person with my colleagues more than ever. ViVE offers a unique opportunity to get a pulse on the market and learn more about the issues keeping health system executives up at night—and dominating their discussions in the boardroom.

It was an invaluable experience for 98point6 as we’ve evolved from virtual care provider to SaaS provider, licensing our care delivery technology to some of the most recognized brands in healthcare. In the last few weeks since ViVE, I’ve been mentally recapping what I learned, what I saw, who I met and a few thoughts keep coming up for me that I believe will define the future of the industry.

1. Balancing personalized and standardized care

In the Digital-First: Live and Let Die panel on how healthcare organizations are leveraging technology to align with strategic priorities and manage growing workforce shortages, Dr. Ashis Barad, Chief Digital Officer of Allegheny Health Network in Pittsburgh discussed why it’s imperative for health systems to standardize digital processes and personalize content to individuals and clinicians.

In today’s highly-competitive, financially-constrained markets, however, he also cautioned the audience about pitting standardization against personalization, saying health systems must balance operational improvement with consumers’ evolving preferences for a more personalized experience.

Before our March divestiture of the 98point6 care delivery division to Transcarent, our virtual clinic was able to do both: AI-supported intake and automated practice standards helped our providers standardize the care delivered across our clinic while also enabling efficiencies that freed up clinicians to personalize patient communications. While 98point6 Technologies no longer provides care directly, we’re still focused on building tools that enable healthcare organizations to operate their own virtual clinics, improve inefficiencies and meet patients’ increasing calls for care that fits seamlessly into their lives. By leveraging AI models and user-friendly technology we can support changing patient needs on the front-end while also pairing them with the right provider that will help resolve their issues in the most efficient and cost-effective manner.

As our offering continues to evolve, Dr. Barad’s words will serve as a reminder that as we work to optimize or automate pieces of the care journey, we must always ask, “Have we made this feel personal to the patient?”

2. Using force multipliers boosts RODI

“How are healthcare leaders considering leveraging generative AI?”

“Will ChatGPT have a role to play in health systems?”

These are some of the questions I had going into ViVE—and candidly, one of the most enjoyable moments I had at the conference was asking ChatGPT to come up with 10 names for a hypothetical virtual primary care service!

While the audience couldn’t come to an agreement on whether any of them would suffice for a real-life brand, panelists and attendees did agree that AI-presented an opportunity to make care delivery frictionless and convenient for consumers, while decreasing burnout among providers—an outcome that would be hugely beneficial to overall operations.

During the panel, Bringing Together a Frictionless Care Community, which explored the opportunity to unify digital healthcare capabilities and aggregate data for a harmonized patient journey, I appreciated the following assertion from Providence CIO and EVP of Real Estate Strategy & Operations B.J. Moore: health system leaders must work with organizations that are force multipliers to help them do more with less.

As we continue to build out our product roadmap at 98point6 Technologies, this was a great reminder of how health systems are thinking about measuring value, including the return on digital investments (RODI), particularly amid current economic conditions.

3. Changing ecosystem dynamics ahead

In these volatile, inflationary times, I was curious to hear how health systems would talk about the current labor market and their relationships with employers.

Northwell Direct CEO Nick Stefanizzi cautioned the audience during his panel, The Rising Cost of Employer-Sponsored Health, about avoiding “logo soup,” meaning working with so many point solutions that patient care is fragmented and the cognitive burden among providers increases.

Nick also touched on the opportunity for health systems, as large employers with considerable expertise themselves, to disintermediate payors and craft deeper, more direct relationships with large employers.

Fortunately, we’re already seeing health systems start to consolidate their virtual care offerings for employees, members, patients and consumers. Organizations are increasingly moving away from the myriad point solutions that were more commonplace pre-pandemic and toward care extenders like 98point6 that integrate with their existing brand and patient pathways.

After a few days at ViVE in Nashville, I left excited and reinvigorated for what’s to come in the rapidly changing world of digital healthcare, and more confident than ever that 98point6 Technologies can help meet the rising demand in the market for purpose-built solutions developed for and by providers.

Are you interested in discussing your organization’s hybrid care extension needs? Schedule a demo with us today.