At the age of 28, my life changed forever the minute I was told, “You have cancer.” After four cycles of chemotherapy to treat non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, I was one of the fortunate ones to go into remission.
My clinical care was excellent, but like so many patients who face similar health challenges, I felt utterly helpless throughout my care experience. It was as if I was on the outside, and my healthcare was being done to me rather than with me. I emerged from the experience healthy, grateful and humbled. I felt inspired to change the way other patients and families experience healthcare and I was determined to make it better for the next person up to bat to face a life-defining moment.
“I was determined to make it better for the next person up to bat to face a life-defining moment.”
From inspiration to action
Little did I know that the solution we pioneered in 2000 would be the start of “patient engagement” as we know it today. Back then, interactive patient systems that encouraged patient activation, input, and feedback didn’t exist.
We created the industry’s first integrated entertainment and patient education system at the bedside to better engage patients and families and help them take a more active role in their health journey. Seventeen years and over 600 client sites, 75,000 hospital beds, more than 300 physician offices and three acquisitions later, a lot has changed. But, we are driven by the same mission. We still wake up every day excited about the impact we are having on millions of patients and families by giving them a voice—every patient, every family, every time.
Meeting patients where they are
Increasingly, the patient journey is moving far outside the four walls of the hospital. It’s at the bedside, yes —but it’s also in the doctor’s office, in the urgent care clinic, in the surgery center and it’s at home. Despite this shift, the vast majority of patient engagement and education is still fragmented:
- It’s delivered in silos with little continuity of experience for patients and families.
- This puts a strain on resources who deploy, maintain, and extend solutions across populations and care settings.
- And most solutions fail to take into consideration a person’s capacity to engage in their health, leading to missed opportunities for achieving the best possible health outcome.
In response to the shifts in how and where care is being delivered, over the past three years, we have been building out our platform, launching new solutions and acquiring companies to extend patient engagement across the full spectrum of care.
The path forward
Today marks an important milestone in our work. We are taking the first step in defining a new product category — Precision Engagement™. And, we are bringing patient engagement solutions into a single, integrated platform — the Patient’s Platform™. Our goal is to help healthcare organizations deliver on the promise of population health by personalizing patient engagement and meeting patients where they are.
Influenced by the fundamentals of precision medicine, where personalized medical treatment is data-driven and guided by individual variables, Precision Engagement transforms the one-size-fits-all approach of the past to a new model that accounts for the unique needs of each person.
It also offers healthcare organizations a unique approach for delivering engagement through a singular platform. The results: better experiences for patients and families, lower friction for clinical and technical teams, and better performance across the health care organization.
“Simply put, Precision Engagement means connecting with patients at the right time, in the right place, and with the right information based on their personal readiness to engage.”
How do you achieve Precision Engagement? There are six imperatives for delivering Precision Engagement and GetWellNetwork is the only partner to deliver on them all. I invite you to read more about them here.
Marking the milestone
To honor this important milestone, we have launched a new getwellnetwork.com complemented by new solution branding. But this is more than just a new look. This effort represents a renewed focus on our mission and a deepening of our commitment to our clients, patients, and families.
I invite you to explore the pages of our website. We hope you find our product branding to be an authentic representation of the important work we are doing with our clients. Together, we are helping patients take an active role in their health journey.
Do visit often as information will be continuously updated. Look out for new insights for customers, investors, partners and media as the story of Precision Engagement unfolds. We’ll be sharing more blog posts, success stories, client testimonials, news, and career opportunities ahead. And we’re looking forward to hearing from you, too. Send your comments or feedback to us here.
The best is ahead,
Michael O’Neil