"Patient Engagement is the Blockbuster Drug of the Century"

A blog written by Leonard Kish which is then highlighted in a Forbes blog by David Chase deserves comment.  At Accolade, we have believed and have put into practice just that philosophy that "an engaged patient is the blockbuster drug of the  century."  We take it one step further as none of us ever know when we will make that transition from being a person to a patient.  We have therefore found that part of the challenge is to engage people who are about to become patients, before they take that fateful step or very soon after.  For over 60% of the people we engage and help, we become their trusted assistant before they actually access care.  They engage with their Health Assistant who makes them smarter, calmer, more confident  and better patients and they end up using the health care system in such a way as to get outcomes that are better for themselves and lower costs for the system as a whole.  For us, this "blockbuster drug" has become reality as our people, processes and systems combine to create a new profession  in health care that can focus in a laser like fashion on engagement and decisions support.  The profession of Accolade Health Assistant assists with every decision including those decisions which are financial, logistical, social and insurance driven as well as clinical.  by first engaging and creating a trusted relationship with a trained professional.  It works and our results show that it is proven to be the blockbuster that these authors write about.