Using cloud-based computing to improve complex care

For children with complex medical needs, care coordination across medical specialties is a major pain point, as is communication across multiple provider systems. And patients aren’t the only ones feeling the burden. Consider these startling statistics:

• $25-$45 billion is wasted annually in the U.S. due to poor communication in health care.
• $45 billion has been invested in tools that record and bill for care, but don’t manage care.
• 40 percent of medical malpractice claims stem from poor communication.

Isaac Kohane, MD, PhD, and Kenneth Mandl, MD, of the Boston Children’s Hospital Computational Health Informatics (CHIP) program, felt care coordination was an area ripe for a technological solution.ACT.md came together three years ago with the help of Clay Christensen of Harvard Business School, author of The Innovator’s Prescription. Christensen introduced Kohane and Mandl to Ted Quinn, a seasoned health care IT entrepreneur. As a family caregiver, Quinn was intimately familiar with the need to integrate complex care.

Christensen’s VC fund, Rose Park Advisors, seeded ACT.md in 2013, and the platform was built over a 9-month period at the Harvard Innovation Lab. Customers quickly signed up for beta testing when ACT.md launched in early 2014.

Using a cloud-based, device-agnostic web technology platform, ACT.md connects all members of a care team (including family caregivers) around a single patient, allowing them to collaborate on care planning, manage care between visits and make safe, reliable handoffs. Everyone can see who is on the team and who is responsible for a specific piece of the shared care plan.

Read the full post on Vector: Cloud-based complex care platform empowers clinicians and families alike

The opinions expressed in this blog post are the author’s only and do not necessarily reflect those of MassDevice.com or its employees.

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