How Salesforce Helps Healthcare Organizations Implement a 360-degree Patient View

The healthcare industry is ever-evolving. However, it’s only been in the last few years that the evolution has delivered new ways to inspire patient engagement and activation. Technology has created new levels of expectations in care from patients. Healthcare providers, payers, pharma, and medical device companies are committed to meeting these expectations. 

This increased level of patient engagement leads to better care and outcome, and the healthcare industry must be prepared to offer superior care. Superior care is only possible through accurate, timely information. 

This means that having a complete view of the patient - a 360-degree view - is critical to meet heightened patient expectations and the shift to quality outcomes over the number of patients seen.  

The biggest roadblock can be the siloed legacy systems that hold this patient information. As noted in an article by Chief Healthcare Executive, “The only way this wheel of patient-centered care can maintain its integrity is if each spoke is sharing patient data seamlessly and without restriction.” 

This is where Salesforce shines. Building on the foundation of bringing data together to create a 360-degree customer view, the CRM platform’s healthcare solution, Health Cloud, does the same for professionals across the healthcare landscape. 

Gaining a 360-degree View of the Patient with Salesforce Health Cloud 

How does Salesforce enable a patient 360-degree view? By incorporating the legacy standards with new, innovative ways to surface and view patient data. 

Health Standards Interoperability 

Many would say that healthcare providers have their own language. That’s true of the standards used to share patient data, as well.  

Healthcare information is exchanged between systems using the Health Level Seven (HL7) and the Fast Health Interoperability Resources (FHIR) standards. Electronic healthcare systems must read, understand, and translate these message formats to participate in data exchange with other healthcare systems. 

Health Cloud natively “speaks” the language of both of these standards, permitting data mapping between existing standards-based electronic systems and the platform and making data sharing between applications seamless. 

Legacy Health Systems Integration 

However, the exchange of healthcare records doesn’t happen on its own. It requires applications that facilitate the functionality to get data where it needs to be and bring that data forward for viewing and analysis when needed. 

Salesforce does this through the use of Application Programming Interfaces (APIs). Using APIs, Health Cloud can connect to a host of systems of record, securely accessing and sharing data across your legacy ecosystem. 

Patient Dashboards 

When data is spread out across systems, doctors spend more time switching between applications than providing care. Building on the last two features, Salesforce’s solution offers functionality for a patient dashboard, streamlining a provider’s view of a patient’s entire spectrum of information. 

With all the data in a single windowpane, a provider can view relevant information about a patient at a glance. It’s possible to see multiple facets of a patient’s health factors at once, from previous blood tests to current care plans to lifestyle factors - like employment, housing, etc. - that can influence a patient’s engagement.  

The dashboard can also be used to alert clinicians of risk factors or concerns. For instance, if a patient completes a questionnaire that indicates symptoms are worsening, a provider can intervene without waiting until the patient’s next appointment.  

Patient Experience 

A poor patient experience can lead to poor patient engagement and activation. Patients don’t participate fully in their care and decisions if they don’t trust that their provider offers them the best care they can and treats them like a whole person, not just a collection of symptoms. 

The patient dashboard not only helps the clinician see and treat the individual, but it also helps everyone with patient contact to do the same. Support staff can quickly view patient communication preferences, see the entire range of a care plan, and even intervene to ensure patients are able to participate in their care.  

For instance, if a provider’s staff sees that a patient has transportation challenges, they can help coordinate travel arrangements ahead of time to ensure patients get where they need to be to continue their care. 

Care Coordination 

Patients choose primary care providers in a practice. But what happens when that doctor is unavailable? Or if a patient needs to visit another facility in an emergency? 

Having a complete view of patient data with Health Cloud makes care coordination faster and safer. A clinician stepping in on a case for the first time will have the full range of information available immediately, without paging through documents and applications. This reduces concerns about missed information, like medications, current care plans, or medical history. 

Extensible and Configurable 

Importantly, Health Cloud is extensible and configurable. The Salesforce App Exchange offers third-party applications that work with Salesforce to provide additional functionality that may not exist within the platform today.  

Providers can also change how and what information is available, how it’s accessed, and create new ways of using the solution with configurations and adopting different features. Health Cloud’s configuration tools are straightforward to use, making it possible for office staff and clinicians to create care plans and integrate communications, alerts, and so on with drag and drop functionality and simple configuration interfaces. 

Conclusion 

Salesforce’s Health Cloud offers a multifaceted view into a patient’s entire history and data. This means that each touchpoint - from front office support staff to nurses, regular care providers, and stand-in or emergency providers - has every piece of information needed at their fingertips to make quality care decisions and offer a positive experience. 

If you’re interested in finding out how Salesforce can help your practice or healthcare business improve visibility into data while better engaging patients in their care, Six Consulting can help. We can guide you in choosing the right Health Cloud services and offerings that will improve your practice and the implementation services so that you don’t need to worry about getting the platform set up right for your team. Contact us today to learn more about how we can help you take your patient experience to the next level.