The COVID-19 Crisis The COVID-19 Cri- SPECIAL SECTION: The COVID-19 Crisis
Washington’s Community Health Plan Goes Digital for ‘Greatest Patient Engagement Challenge’ Ever
By Rajiv Leventhal and David Raths In this recurring section, Healthcare
Innovation editors take an in-depth look into the numerous ways the COVID-19 pandemic is impacting the healthcare eco- system. In this issue, we take a close look at the challenges and opportunities around vaccination education and outreach.
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ow that the COVID-19 vaccine is being rolled out across the country— still mostly to at-risk populations—
healthcare organizations have arduous logistical challenges in front of them from the standpoint of controlling supply and distribution. But another issue—perhaps an unforeseen one—has presented itself as well. More and more market research has come out validating an unfortunate reality: many Americans are still skeptical of getting the vaccine this fi rst go-around. One poll’s fi ndings that were released late last year, conducted by the de Beaumont Foundation and pollster Frank Luntz, in partnership with the American Public Health Association, the National Collaborative for Health Equity, and Resolve to Save Lives, found that just 60 percent of Americans said they were either “absolutely certain” or would “probably” get the vaccine if they could now. What’s more, the data showed that the groups least likely to say they were “absolutely certain” were Americans in rural/farm communi- ties (26 percent), Republicans aged 18-49 (27 percent), Black Americans 18-49 (28 percent), and women 18-49 (29 percent). For healthcare stakeholders, the impor- tance of getting the right messaging and education out to patients, while combatting
misinformation, has never been greater. Increasingly, to ramp-up their outreach efforts, organizations are turning to digital health companies for help. One such ven- dor, Arcadia, which provides a population health management and healthcare intel- ligence platform, is aiming to help its cus- tomers reach out to millions of patients to improve engagement for vaccinations and other important preventative care. More specifi cally, Arcadia Analytics is provid- ing a platform for COVID-19 vaccination education and engagement, as well as for patient stratifi cation and targeted outreach to high-risk patients and underserved groups, including support for multiple languages. The platform includes ongo- ing patient tracking and communications to ensure series completion, and reporting and analytics to track vaccinations and ensure equity in vaccine administration, according to company offi cials. Arcadia’s Chief Medical Offi cer, Rich
Parker, M.D., called the vaccination educa- tion and outreach effort “the single greatest patient engagement challenge of our lives.” What’s particularly discouraging, Parker explains in a recent interview, is that despite having an incredible opportunity to use one of the most successful vaccines ever created—noting that both the Moderna and the Pfi zer vaccines have a 95 percent effi cacy rate, as well as a great safety record—there is still too much resistance to the concept of getting the vaccine. “So [organizations] have to be creative with their outreach, and that’s due in part to the political climate that has intersected with the public health crisis, and the public health exigency of getting everyone vac- cinated,” he says. The service is provided to Arcadia’s healthcare organization customers, which are primarily health plans in this instance. One such entity is Community Health Plan of Washington (CHPW), which is rolling out the program to its members. CHPW is Washington State’s fi rst not- for-profi t health plan, and was formed to coordinate care and advocate for people who were not being served by traditional insurance companies.
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The majority of the plan’s members are in Medicare and Medicaid programs, and over the last few months the company has been getting lots of inquiries from members about when it’s their turn to get the vaccine and where they need to go to get it, says Jennifer Polello, Community Health Plan of Washington’s senior director of quality and population health. While that interest is a good thing, one big priority for CHPW has been reaching out to underserved popula- tions to make sure that they have enough information so that they’re prompted to get the shots when it’s their turn, Polello says. Research has also revealed that commu- nicating vaccine information and recom- mendations via patients’ providers should lead to more improved engagement and adherence. According to a December Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) survey, 85 percent of patients trust vaccine information and recommendations their doctor or health- care provider, while only 53 percent trust pharmaceutical companies, for compari- son’s sake. Polello notes that CHPW was founded by 20 community health centers, so oftentimes the health plan will partner with a specifi c community health center for a specifi c community-based message, meaning that for the recipient patients, the information is coming from their trusted provider.
Speaking to the importance of leveraging data and analytics to track vaccinations and ensure equity in their administration, Parker offers that historically, if one were to ask the average internist or family practitioner how many of their patients have not gotten the fl u shot, the response from the doctor might be a blank stare since he or she has no way of knowing the answer to that question. But Arcadia’s system can immediately answer it, while also fi guring out where those patients who didn’t get their shots are located, and identifying general areas with lower vaccination completion rates. “And then we can do a text outreach program, which is pretty seamless, electronic, fast, and cheap,” Parker contends. “You couldn’t do any of that in the old days. So, in other words, technology has facilitated public health outreach,” he says. HI
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