These slides were presented at the October 2023 meeting of the KC Digital Drive Health Innovation Team. This presentation will focus on how the incorporation of technology in healthcare is essential to driving an integrated care model –one which is holistic, person-centered, and shows clear communication between the different specialties, providers, and levels of care. The explosive growth and adoption of virtual consultations, remote monitoring, mobile health, digital therapeutics, artificial intelligence/machine learning has gained significant support from doctors and patients alike. The role and importance of digital health in integrated care has never been greater. Understanding this field is critical as we work towards more integrated models of care – the validation and adoption of medical advances, using critical insights from health information, and optimizing specialists and providers for person-centered, high-quality, cost-effective care.

1. The Role of Digital Health in the Future of Integrated Care
KC DIGITAL DRIVE HEALTH INNOVATION
October 25, 2023
Elizabeth Crocker RN MHA MSc

2. Digital Health
Enabling
Integrated Care
Can be defined as
“the use of digital health
technologies to enable and
support the functional activities
and processes, as well as
normative values and culture put
in place to achieve the aims of an
integrated care model”
International Journal of Integrated Care.
September 20, 2021
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3. Two Foundational Ideas
• Technologies need to align to activities
or tasks of users and organizations to
add value.
• The notion of “value” extends beyond
discrete actions or processes, and
includes attention to the values, beliefs
and norms that are interwoven into a
model of care at individual,
organizational, and societal levels.
International Journal of Integrated Care.
September 20, 2021
Emerald Venture Partners. Copyright 2023. All Rights Reserved. 3

4. What is
Integrated
Care?
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A unique approach to healthcare
that’s characterized by close
collaboration and communication
between multiple doctors and
healthcare professionals.
Breaking down the SILOS!
Healthcare where all of your
doctors work together to solve
issues with your physical, mental,
and behavioral health. Rather than
being isolated and separate, each
doctor and medical professional
contributes toward your overall
care.
Breaking down the SILOS!
Physicians, Nurse Practitioners,
Physician Assistants, nurses,
psychologists, and other health
professionals working together for
better health outcomes.
Breaking down the SILOS!

5. Integrated
Continuum
&
Continuity
of Care
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CONTINUUM of CARE
full spectrum of services
provided over the lifetime
of a person
Birth > Prevention >
Wellness > Illness > Self
Management > End of Life
(Cradle to Grave)
CONTINUITY of CARE
coordination of actions
by an integrated team to
effectively manage care
Primary – Acute – Tertiary
(#longtermconditions,
#remotepatientmonitoring,
#careathome, #outofhospital,
#virtualwards)

6. Why is
Integrated
Care
Important?
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Holistic Person-centered
Facilitates clear and
concise communication
between providers and
patients, between levels
of care, places of care
Facilitates
movement of
healthcare from
reactive to
preventative
Continuity of care across
primary, secondary, and
tertiary care services –
collaborated and
coordinated

7. Digital Health is Key
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Improve Access
Metropolitan
Urban
Rural
Care Services
Enhance Equality
Enhance Quality Improve Outcomes

8. Digital Health is
both the
”grease” and the
“glue”
of Integrated
Care Systems
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To the transformation of
the current systems to
more integrative
systems that facilitates -
INTEROPERABILITY
DATA VISUALIZATION
DATA SHARING (where
appropriate)

9. Opportunities in a Rapid, Adaptive, and Increasingly Open System
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Clinical level: An unprecedented increase in the use of virtual care across sectors and the use of
patient portals to access information.
Professional level: Providers are using more tools to enable collaboration and teamwork through
technology enabled referral, consultation, and care plan meetings/rounds.
Organizational level: Health information data sets are being integrated to meet public health
reporting needs, however infrastructure barriers to interoperability remain a significant barrier.
System level: A rapid change in policies to enable digital health use, including changes to funding
models to support wider adoption.

10. Threats to Coordination, Equity, and the Role of Digital Health Tools
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First, while digital solutions can support greater coordination, many
jurisdictions still face a lack of infrastructure for sharing health data
between organizations.
Second, rapid adoption can lead to a reductionist view of technology,
seeing it as just a tool to enable information sharing and communication.
Finally, both these challenges can exacerbate health inequity at the
individual level due to unequal access to technologies and disparate
digital literacy.

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Digital Medicine Society

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Digital Medicine Society

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Digital Medicine Society

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Health
Information
Digitalized records,
diagnostics, dashboards
Knowledge
generation
Epigenetics,
epidemiologic modeling, AI/ML
Geospatial &
environmental
Sensors &
exposure integrators
Personalized
therapeutics
3-D printing,
genetic based
tailoring
Surgical
Robotic,
remote site,
targeting devices
Implantable
devices
Tracking, monitoring,
triggering
Knowledge
Integrators
Decision aids,
predictive analytics, AI/ML
Imaging
Pinpoint assessment
& interpretation
Dose, use,
titre monitoring
Pharmaceuticals
Personal
health
devices
Mobile assessment,
monitoring, tailoring
Telemedicine
Remote consults,
care management
& coordination
Diagnostics
Testing, analytics –onsite,
remote site
Digital Health
Applications

15. Digital Health
Infrastructure
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Individual
Access and
Engagement
Workforce
AI/ML
Data Science
Virtual
Health Data
Trusts
Governance
Equity
And
Ethics
Data Storage
And
Stewardship
Interoperability
Privacy and
Identifier
Protocols
Cybersecurity
Data Quality
And
Reliability

16. Core Principles for
Stewards of Digital
Health
Infrastructure and
Data
National Academy of Medicine
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Personal Safe Effective
Equitable Efficient Accessible
Measurable Transparent Adaptive
Secure

17. Creating a
Successful
Digital Health
Integrated Care
System
starts with
Demonstration
Projects
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ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

18. What’s Next?
Setting the Stage for
Improved Integrated
Delivery Tomorrow
Overcoming the Path Dependency
Theory by
• Asking questions today about
tomorrow’s technologies to develop
and implement that will…
• Align functional activities with the
core values of integrated care
models…
• To ensure that Digital Health will
play its part towards greater
integration of health and social
care…
• Capitalize on the windows of
opportunity!
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19. Thank You!
Here’s to the Future of
Digital Health and Integrated Care in
America’s Heartland