SR Health Blog

The COVID-19 vaccine isn’t a far-off hope anymore. After months of testing and development, the Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccine is a reality. It’s received U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) emergency use authorization and is being distributed to individual states. Similarly, the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine received FDA emergency use authorization Dec. 18 and is shipping to a hospital or state health department near you.

As we look back at 2020, all we are going to really remember is COVID-19. Given the way it has impacted life, I guess that is reasonable. However, as we look forward to 2021, there are a number of health IT trends that I see happening regardless of what happens with COVID and that were largely set up by everything that has happened this year. Here is my look at what healthcare organizations can expect in 2021.

Perhaps the song “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” was never more literally applicable than during the 2020 holiday season. We all need some holiday cheer, but in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, we need to encourage people to seek safer, more socially distanced ways to celebrate to try to reduce transmission of the virus. To help healthcare providers support a safer holiday, we've created a template you can use to share best practices with your patients. Use all or some of the content below in emails, text messages, your website, and social media. You can also download this content as a Word file here.

Elizabeth Woodcock, founder and principal of Woodcock Associates and executive director of Patient Access Collaborative, presented a webinar Dec. 10 on the topic, “Telehealth 2021: Reimbursement Updates & Predictions.” To watch the full webinar, click here.

The forecasts and predictions for what will define 2021 are rolling out. Be wary of forecasts, predictions, and trends from innovators and futurists who may not understand living life with a diagnosis or diagnoses as a patient. Be skeptical of forecasts, predictions, and trends from people and entities who do not understand the work that patients and their carepartners need to do to get the care they need. For a successful 2021 that authentically meets patients and their carepartners where they are, create strategies rooted in these top 10 real-world, essential priorities.

The Mayan “Doomsday” calendar predicted the world would end in 2012. You’ve got to hand it to them--they were only off by eight years.

The providers at one full-service health system in Michigan see patients for everything from coughs and minor injuries to open-heart surgery. In their emergency department alone, they see over 100,000 patients a year, many of whom don’t have a primary care provider (PCP). While they are largely fee-for-service, the organization has been actively looking for ways to improve the health of the community and reduce readmissions.

At SR Health, we've been thinking a lot about creating the best virtual care workflow. Recently, we created this video to share how we envision the workflow being support by SR Health. We'd love to get your feedback. Watch the video and share your thoughts on whether or not we've gotten it right, or missed the mark, in the comments below. Your thoughts will help us continue to refine our solutions to meet your needs.

The past six to seven months have been stressful. For patients, especially those with underlying conditions that increase their risk, it has been frightening. And, for everyone it has often been confusing. Not only is there a lot of misinformation out there, but there is conflicting information coming from what should be valid sources.

A couple of weeks ago, we posted five tips to better engage patients during COVID from our new guide, COVID Tips from the Top: 20 Innovative Ideas from Top Healthcare Leaders and Other Experts. This week, we want to focus on some of the suggestions around how to engage your team members to help your organization face change and thrive despite COVID.