ATA Nexus 2024: 4 Game-Changing Takeaways for Healthcare Innovators
ATA Nexus 2024: 4 Game-Changing Takeaways for Healthcare Innovators
The ATA Nexus 2024 Conference, one of the largest gatherings of virtual healthcare experts and thought leaders, just took place in Phoenix last week. If you weren’t able to attend…what did you miss?
The conference was filled with memorable insights into the latest trends and developments in digital health, including a deep dive into revolutionary progress in remote monitoring, how to pragmatically develop AI healthcare products, the impact of Augmented Reality (“AR”) and Virtual Reality (“VR”) on healthcare delivery, and more.
There was something for every healthcare innovator to apply to their business—from ways to navigate the latest regulatory developments to successfully selling your product(s) to the nation’s leading health systems.
Still, one major roadblock persists across healthcare as a whole: how to successfully transition from fee-for-service to true value-based care.
Four Nixon Law Group attorneys were thrilled to attend and present at ATA Nexus 2024 ATA Nexus 2024 alongside some of the most knowledgeable experts in digital health. After listening to everything the panelists, guests, and organizers had to offer, here’s what we think healthcare innovators should take away from the conference.
Our 4 Game-Changing Takeaways for Healthcare Innovators
1. Reimbursement Realities in Remote Monitoring
Remote monitoring in healthcare is already improving outcomes for patients with rare and/or chronic diseases. Here’s what we learned:
Reimbursement vs. ROI – The CPT code sets for Remote Monitoring provide imperfect reimbursement pathways that offer thin margins for health systems and their vendors. Some systems currently using remote monitoring don't even bother to submit claims – proving that reimbursement does not necessarily equal ROI. This may drive big changes in fee-for-service remote monitoring codes and, hopefully, more focus on remote monitoring’s role in value-based care models.
Integrating your data – Healthcare workers are receiving large quantities of data from patients around the clock. That data should be a component of the "single source of truth" about that patient to provide intelligent and actionable insights for patient care.
RTM and SaMD – Software as a Medical Device (SaMD) is a growing sector, and the Remote Therapeutic Monitoring codes may provide an initial path to market for SaMD platforms that may not otherwise have a viable revenue stream. NGL’s resident FDA expert Michael Schellhous says, “Regulations in this space are complex and continuously evolving, but it’s also an area with a lot of untapped potential.”
2. How to Take a Pragmatic Approach to AI Implementation
Some healthcare AI developers aren’t launching their products with a longevity-first mindset.
If AI is going to make a difference in healthcare, what should developers take into account?
Start with the problem, then use data to build a solution— Make sure your data is clean, reflects the right patient population, and identifies a real and repetitive problem. Then, decide what to build.
How does it work in practice? — Consider how the tool will help the user in their day-to-day responsibilities. Will it fit into their existing workflows or will it disrupt them?
Consider silent deployment — This means launching a product and watching it as a test run before taking clinical action. This allows you to catch latent challenges before your users do.
Team members — Consider the relevancy of each member on the launch team. Make sure to include the clinical user, operator, and the CTO/CDO early in the development process to ensure you address all relevant perspectives.
Don’t miss the details — There are important considerations to account for early-on that may impact your timeline and budget. Don’t forget to address these in your projections: legal/regulatory risk, cyber liability risk, target market procurement processes and timeline, EHR integration, and ethics review.
3. VR/AR Uses in Modern Healthcare Are Expanding
VR and AR are making a growing impact in the world of digital healthcare:
Athlete recovery — Not only is VR helping athletes recover faster and mitigate risk of future injury, but it can also help them improve their skills between practices.
Surgical training — The human brain can register VR experiences as real memories! The Mayo Clinic is using this to deploy full-scale surgical training, helping surgeons better prepare for complex procedures.
VA Immersive— The U.S. Department of Veterans’ Affairs is using XR in 40 locations across the U.S. to calm anxiety, take hospice patients “home” one last time, and take veteran healthcare to a whole new level of engagement.
Excitement is growing – NGL Partner Kaitlyn O’Connor says, “The AR/VR Deep Dive Session at ATA was well-attended. You could tell the audience was eager to learn more about how they can leverage immersive technology to solve some of the most pressing problems in healthcare. I’m looking forward to the growth this space will experience in the coming years.”
4. The Road Ahead for Digital Healthcare: True Value-Based Care
The world of digital healthcare has evolved tremendously over the past few years. With developments in remote monitoring, AI, and AR/VR, the future of healthcare looks bright, and the value these technologies stand to deliver to patients is powerful.
But the utility and overall adoption of digital health tools today are not what they could be. Why?
One reason might be that we are still largely stuck in fee-for-service payment and care models. Short-term, encounter-based structures just don’t capture the value that digital health tools in today’s market can deliver over time. But the technology and data we have today can help build more successful value-based programs. Here’s how:
Actionable insights — There’s plenty of data available, but healthcare providers don’t currently have insights into that data to make informed, value-based decisions about patient care. Tools that provide this insight will help drive better long-term outcomes for patients.
Patient engagement — Even with actionable insights, healthcare providers can only do so much. Patient engagement is vital to the overall success of their treatment. We need clear and transparent communication, training, and simple tools that make it easy for patients to stay engaged in their care.
More informed care models — To date, value-based payment models have largely failed in their attempts to drive better patient outcomes or cut healthcare costs. But, building payment and care models that are informed by data and intentionally incorporate digital health tools could help improve success rates.
“The shift to value-based care will be critical to facilitate sustainable business models in digital health and virtual care. Those businesses are struggling to stay afloat in the Fee For Service market. The faster that digital health companies are able to collect data, demonstrate ROI, and pivot to value-based arrangements, the bigger financial upside they will see, with better outcomes for patients and clinicians alike.”
The Future of Modern Healthcare
The future of healthcare will likely involve technology in nearly every facet of a patient’s treatment journey. As technology evolves, reimbursement pathways, regulatory frameworks, and growth strategies will too.
This is why conferences like ATA Nexus 2024 are so important: they bring together the brightest minds in healthcare innovation to learn, connect, and educate one another. We can’t wait to return next year!
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And better yet, if you’re a healthcare innovator developing or implementing new technology, let us know. We’d love to help you reach your goals.