From creating a new life to building a family, the maternal journey is one of healthcare's most pivotal experiences. The care a mother receives from conception through postpartum affects both her own health and her child's, and thus the health of our society at large. However, while effectively coordinating maternal care is critical, our healthcare system fails to achieve this consistently.
Telehealth is helping solve the maternal health criss
The U.S. has the highest maternal mortality rate in the developed world, and the gap is widening. After years of declining rates, preterm births are on a steady rise. One in seven women experiences depression in the year after giving birth. Additionally, the COVID-19 pandemic illuminated the shortfalls in relying exclusively on in-person care.
However, it also illustrated the power virtual care has to complement in-person care by providing 24/7 access and access to a whole range of specialty providers that improve outcomes. At Maven, we’ve found that a digital-only approach isn’t enough, as there are many procedures and conversations for which an in-person appointment is necessary. Instead, the solution comes in a "digital front door" — a digital entryway into care and services, accessible from anywhere, that can guide and steer patients to services that are digital or in-person.
Our Care Advocates are critical to helping guide women to the proper care when they need it, 24/7, whether it's mental health support, urgent or emergency care, online content, community interaction, and more. Digital front doors, in the form of apps and care advocates, assist in increasing and improving patient engagement through compelling, tailored care that combines both digital and human experience elements. Let's dive into why this approach is vital to improving maternal and infant health outcomes.
Why are digital front doors important to the patient experience?
With so many different forms of care one can receive, digital front doors are much more than just virtual access to a physician or remote monitoring of symptoms. Telehealth is transforming the maternal care journey from occasional, interventional visits to continuous, preventative healthcare. Digital front doors can empower families to receive seamless, meaningful, and connected experiences that support their care at various points of their health journey.
The current established structure of prenatal care severely limits the time pregnant women can spend with their providers, which can make it harder for patients to engage in their health or act as a true partner in their care. A virtual platform for maternal care targets these gaps, improving access to quality care, increasing engagement, and empowering patients. Even before the pandemic pushed maternal care online out of necessity, studies showed that many maternal healthcare services — routine prenatal care, consultation with specialists, and monitoring blood pressure and glucose levels, for example — can be delivered effectively and efficiently through video visits. Virtual care eliminates a patient’s need to travel and helps them stay engaged in their care, which contributes to healthy maternal and infant outcomes.
With online tools and a more fluid customer experience, patients are more apt to make informed choices that result in reduced costs and better outcomes. Maven’s digital front door comes in the form of our easy-to-use mobile app, combined with our Care Advocates, who help members navigate their insurance, recommend healthcare providers, build trust with the platform, and by extension, health providers.
Employers can get on board with the uptick in the popularity of digital front doors in healthcare — a recent survey saw that eight in ten large employers are emphasizing virtual care and telehealth in their healthcare benefit and care delivery strategies.
.svg)
