hospitals and health systems are hurting. They’re navigating devastating declines in inpatient and outpatient visits and corresponding decreases in revenue.
- “Hospitals and health systems currently report average declines of 19.5 percent in inpatient volume and 34.5 percent in outpatient volume relative to baseline levels.” The American Hospital Association estimates the COVID-19 pandemic will cost hospitals more than $323 billion in 2020, $202.6 billion in estimated losses between March and June and another $120.5 billion from July through December.
- Rural hospitals were under siege before the pandemic; more than 120 have closed since 2010 and another “450, 21 percent of rural hospitals, [were] found to be financially unstable.” Rural facilities tend to have a smaller financial cushion than their urban peers so the loss of revenue there can be particularly devastating.
Exacerbating the problem, more than 60 percent of patients say they’ll wait one to six or more months to access regular care due to fear of contracting COVID-19. In addition to general fears, patients face considerable financial constraints. More than three quarters (78 percent) say they would skip at least one medical visit due to cost concerns.
A personalized approach with a digital front door foundation can greatly increase patients’ comfort and willingness to return to routine care, and help reverse steep declines in hospital and provider revenues.
To help hospitals and health systems, Geneia has released a new white paper, It’s high time hospitals and health systems opened the digital front door: Why Hospitals and Health Systems Are Implementing a Digital Front Door Strategy.
In this timely resource, we define digital front door, present detailed examples of the strategy in action and discuss how the strategy improves patient satisfaction, quality outcomes and costs. Whether the digital front door is a new or very familiar concept to you, we are confident this white paper can help.
Download it today.
