Columbia Memorial Health’s adoption of AI-driven care navigation improved patient experiences, resulting in significant ROI. The digital front-door initiative, with a Net Promoter Score of 72, aimed to redirect patients from unreliable online searches to a safe, AI-based solution. Over 9,312 assessments were completed in 12 months, and CMH estimated a threefold ROI. Dr. Ronald Pope advised embracing AI in healthcare, focusing on appropriate use cases, transparency, and plug-and-play systems.
Columbia Memorial Health’s adoption of AI-driven care navigation has proven highly beneficial to patients. As part of their digital front door initiative, this system has not only yielded clinical and financial returns but has also garnered an impressive Net Promoter Score of 72. Situated in Hudson, New York, Albany Med-Columbia Memorial Health (CMH) is a vital community hospital and health system catering to over 100,000 residents across Columbia and Greene counties.
The Challenge: CMH faced a challenge where its digital presence failed to capitalize on the full spectrum of business opportunities within its sphere of influence. Patients would often search their symptoms on platforms like Google and seek care from other hospitals and healthcare providers in the region with more robust digital footprints. In the hyper-localized healthcare industry, this put CMH at a competitive disadvantage.
The Solution: To address this, CMH embarked on a digital front-door patient experience project powered by artificial intelligence (AI). The project aimed to achieve several objectives:
1. Drive more patients to CMH by converting online traffic into qualified leads.
2. Provide timely, 24/7 online care guidance.
3. Enhance the patient journey by reducing wait times and eliminating unnecessary steps.
4. Collect valuable population insights, including demographic data, risk factors, initial symptoms, and diagnoses.
Dr. Ronald Pope, Vice President of Medical Services at Albany Med-Columbia Memorial Health, emphasized the goal of improving the overall patient experience by streamlining processes and focusing on reducing wait times and unnecessary steps. The key was to offer patients a more seamless and efficient healthcare experience while optimizing the online presence to serve the community effectively.
The AI Solution: CMH partnered with Mediktor, whose Managing Director, Vicenç Ferrer, proposed leveraging an AI-based medical assistant to empower patients when they sought guidance for their symptoms online. This approach aimed to redirect patients from potentially risky online searches, such as “Dr. Google,” to a safe and appropriate digital solution. This solution allowed patients to assess their symptoms quickly and receive guidance on the appropriate CMH care point, optimizing both time and resources for patients and healthcare professionals.
Implementation: CMH integrated an AI-based care navigation assistant, powered by Mediktor, into its website, app, and condition-specific landing pages. This made the assistant available to patients anywhere and anytime, ensuring the community received high-quality care. Protocols and guidelines used to triage patients offline and via telephone were integrated into the vendor’s digital health system to provide a seamless user experience. Condition-specific landing pages provided educational content and encouraged symptom checking, delivering healthcare guidance as needed.
Results: The project yielded several notable successes:
1. CMH achieved an estimated threefold ROI from its investment by combining industry data on the average cost of ER, PCP, and telemedicine visits without insurance with the total number of patients routed to book appointments through the new system.
2. Patients who used the new system reported a Net Promoter Score of 72, reflecting their positive feedback.
3. Over 9,312 assessments were completed in just 12 months.
4. Nearly 40% of patients used the system recurrently.
Advice for Others: Dr. Ronald Pope emphasized the importance of embracing digital transformation and AI-powered systems in the healthcare industry. It’s crucial to identify and execute the appropriate use cases for technology. When considering AI-powered systems, working with white-box technology allows for transparency and accountability. Additionally, organizations should seek plug-and-play AI systems that address specific problems and are easy to integrate into their tech stack, avoiding complex and costly deployments associated with generalist large language models in the market.
