May 2023 - mPulse

Improving Maternal Health Outcomes with Digital Trends

Posted on May 26, 2023January 21, 2024 by Andrea Amelse

Despite having a highly advanced healthcare system, the U.S. faces a concerning reality as it records the highest rate of pregnancy-related deaths among developed countries. Alarmingly, the maternal mortality rate surged by 40% in 2021 compared to the previous year. While part of this increase can be linked to the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s important to note that maternal mortality rates were already on an upward trend even before the pandemic struck.

Up to 60% of pregnancy-related deaths and adverse maternal health disparities in the U.S. can be prevented by

broadening accessibility,
having higher quality of care and
improving health education and available resources.

Proper preventive and continuity of both prenatal and postpartum care are imperative, and health organizations play a foundational role in improving maternal health disparities for our nation.

In an era where technology is pivotal in improving maternal healthcare outcomes, conversational AI in healthcare emerges as a key player. As the U.S. grapples with rising maternal mortality rates, integrating advanced conversational AI into healthcare strategies offers hope. This innovative technology can significantly improve maternal health outcomes by providing timely, personalized, accessible support to expectant and new mothers.

Our conversational AI solutions are designed to bridge the gaps in maternal healthcare inequalities, offering tailored guidance and vital information that can make a real difference in the lives of women during their pregnancy and postpartum journey.

In this article, we explore the transformative potential of conversational AI in improving maternal health disparities and reducing the alarming rates of pregnancy-related complications in the U.S.

The role of healthcare communication technology

Organizations continually lean on digital trends in an increasingly technology-driven world to drive growth and business efficiencies. 97% of U.S. adults own a mobile phone, and with generative AI platforms such as ChatGTP and social media AI photo filters becoming mainstream, we’re beginning to see the power and potential of healthcare communication technology.

But how does this tie into health organizations and maternal health?

A lot more than you may think. mPulse Mobile has harnessed innovative technology and digital trends and applied them to the healthcare landscape to educate and empower health consumers to take action. We continually deliver best-in-class health outcomes by borrowing inspiration from the world’s most innovative digital trends. We create highly relevant and engaging digital health solutions experiences through:

Technology’s leading trends,
in-house learning and design experts, and
access to rich data and population insights

Our solution to prenatal and postpartum care leverages this expertise. It tackles the challenges associated with our nation’s poor maternal health outcomes, opening doors to accessibility, catering to care preferences, and building knowledge.

Maximizing mobile outreach with conversational AI to enhance maternal healthcare accessibility

We know 97% of American adults own a mobile phone, so leveraging this communication channel to reach more consumers is a great place to start. Scaling this resource requires automation, and to avoid abrasion, we lean on conversational AI and Natural Language Understanding (NLU) to direct consumers to the right tools and resources.

Step-by-Step Process to Enhance Maternal Healthcare Accessibility:

Identify Nearby ObGyns and Clinics: Automatically send pregnant members a list of the closest ObGyns and clinics based on their residential location.
Provide Easy Scheduling Options: Include a phone number for members to call and schedule their appointments easily.
Recognize and Respond to Barriers: Utilize Natural Language Understanding (NLU) to detect if a member mentions a lack of access to reliable transportation.
Offer Solutions for Transportation Barriers: In cases where transportation issues are identified, automatically respond with information about available resources that offer low or no-cost transportation options.
Simplify Appointment Setting: Ensure the entire process, from providing information to addressing barriers, is streamlined to facilitate quick and easy appointment scheduling for members.

Addressing maternal health disparities with culturally competent and personalized solutions

The disparities in maternal health outcomes and the lack of representation and consideration for consumers who are disadvantaged by our health system are undoubtable and require prioritization. mPulse Mobile is committed to helping reduce maternal health disparities and inequalities by designing our programs to be relevant, relatable and address the needs and preferences of diverse communities.

Our pregnancy solution is culturally competent, with multilingual messaging, NLU tailoring, and inclusive replies and opt-outs (miscarriage opt-out, not saying “pregnant women”). For SDoH-level data, we factor in zip codes to deliver relevant resource links and inclusive visual and streaming content representation. To create a personalized and relevant experience throughout, the member’s due date is used to provide timely information, and custom keys (name, provider name, etc.) further enhance personalization.

How we leverage digital trends for enhanced maternal health education

Information sharing and access to the news today are more broadly available thanks to smart devices and the internet. With Americans spending an average of 1,300 hours each year on social networking platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok, it’s critical to derive inspiration from these platforms to maximize engagement and remove friction.

More than 50% of expectant Americans download and use pregnancy-related apps for educational resources and pregnancy-related updates. Health organizations are perfectly positioned to harness these trends and provide a frictionless experience to expectant consumers to engage and deliver the right education and resources, close care gaps, and gather rich population insights.

mPulse Mobile’s prenatal and postpartum solution uses a combination of expert-led videos from Dr. Christine Noa Sterling, board-certified ObGyn, interactive modules, and short stories and animations to educate and empower members around key milestones related to their and their baby’s health.

Content is sent via SMS at key moments based on each consumer’s due date, encouraging them to schedule routine appointments and make healthier choices.

Our in-house behavioral scientists and instructional strategists leverage learning theory and high-quality cinematography and animation to produce content designed to drive action. See for yourself.

mPulse’s prenatal and postpartum solution

mPulse Mobile’s pregnancy solution is a 12+ month interactive SMS program designed to improve quality performance and deliver better health outcomes.

The solution specifically targets multiple HEDIS® measures and is proven to engage and deliver outcomes such as a 2X engagement rate with maternity care management services, a 7.1pp increase in the prenatal and postpartum care measure (PPC) owned by NCQA, and 61% engagement across 400,000 Medicaid members. By incorporating our behavior change methodology throughout all conversations and streaming content, our comprehensive approach broadens access, caters to individual preferences, and educates to improve health outcomes at scale.

mPulse Mobile Drives Strong Q1 2023 Growth

Posted on May 25, 2023March 1, 2024 by mPulse Team

LOS ANGELES–(BUSINESS WIRE)–mPulse Mobile, a leading provider of conversational AI and digital engagement solutions for the healthcare industry, today announced strong, profitable revenue growth for Q1 driven by increases in its market footprint, expanded solutions offerings and consistent improvement in health outcomes for the members and patients of its customers. During the quarter, the company surpassed 200 active customers that have automated over 1 billion conversations to deliver stellar business outcomes over the last 12 months.

The company increased its market footprint during the quarter with existing and new national payor customers by expanding into new geographies across Medicaid, Medicare, Commercial and Pharmacy lines of business. Additionally, the company increased its customer base through new partnerships with Accountable Care Organizations, Integrated Delivery Networks and other “payvider” networks (hybrid provider/payor healthcare companies). These organizations are using mPulse Mobile’s omnichannel, content-rich digital engagement platform to drive significant value by closing gaps in care, improving the consumer experience, creating retention and, most importantly, improving the health outcomes of their members and patients.

“There is a clear need in the market for leading healthcare organizations to connect with their members and patients digitally,” said Bob Farrell, CEO of mPulse Mobile. “We are partnering with our customers to deploy bespoke digital experiences that connect with individuals across diverse populations. It is exciting to see our customers use the consumer data our programs generate to measure performance against their key business goals and see the positive impact on the lives of tens of millions of individuals.”

Expanded Solutions Offerings

mPulse continues to build strong digital engagement solutions on top of the company’s core platform. These solutions address specific health challenges by addressing the needs of individual consumers and activating behavior change. Today, mPulse announced the launch of new engagement solutions for Pregnancy to its suite of solutions. mPulse’s team of behavioral scientists and engagement strategists designed the new Pregnancy solution with conversational outreach and integrated streaming content to deliver an outcomes-focused digital engagement experience that supports individuals of diverse backgrounds and abilities. Spanning pre-natal and post-partum stages, the Pregnancy solution helps mothers navigate their pregnancy and early stages of their child’s life with a focus on completing key preventive health steps, aligned to quality improvement measures. The 12-month program is available across 7 languages with clinical instruction delivered by Dr. Christine Noa Sterling, board-certified ObGyn.

Improvements in Health Outcomes

mPulse’s solutions focus on improving health outcomes, creating business efficiencies and boosting health engagement rates. Over the last 12 months, mPulse has consistently demonstrated high levels of solution performance with leading healthcare organizations across the country. For example:

A large national health plan demonstrated improvements in gap closure across 10 HEDIS measures, with improvements ranging from 2.1 to 18.3 percentage points.
A national health services company deployed automated digital engagement with health coaching and achieved a 90.6% engagement rate with the digital component of the solution.
An HIV medication refill program saw a 68.7% improvement in refill completion among patients overdue for refills.
A national health services company achieved an 8-fold increase in enrollees of its streaming health content, with an average total engagement time of 70 mins per enrollee.

Activate 2023 Conference

mPulse continues to drive innovation in digital experiences for health consumers and is hosting its Activate 2023 conference on September 27-28^th, with the theme Designing Consumer Journeys for Health Equity. Dr. Ruha Benjamin will be the keynote speaker. Dr. Benjamin is Professor of African American Studies at Princeton University and an expert on the intersection of race, technology, and data.

“This is our seventh consecutive year of hosting the Activate conference, and the theme this year uncovers the role digital experiences play in healthcare access and quality to address health inequities,” said Brendan McClure, Chief Marketing Officer at mPulse Mobile. “Dr. Benjamin’s perspectives on racial bias in technology systems will guide discussions around optimal design of digital programs and how they can affect consumer experiences for maximum positive impact on health outcomes.”

Digital Engagement Study in JMIR Cancer

mPulse continues to drive activities that further the understanding and drive education on the use of digital engagement to improve health outcomes. In this regard, mPulse published a milestone study in partnership with AltaMed Health Services and evaluators at the Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute. The study evaluated digital strategies for increasing colorectal cancer screenings among populations facing Social Determinants of Health (SDoH) barriers by using automated, bidirectional texting with Natural Language Understanding (NLU) and tailored cultural content in the form of fotonovelas.

The findings, published in JMIR Cancer, show how digital engagement approaches can effectively address the challenges people face in completing important health actions like routine screenings.

View the press release on Business Wire »

Poor Healthcare Technology Experiences Erode Consumer Trust. AI Can Repair Relationships.

Posted on May 10, 2023January 25, 2024 by Sanjeev Sawai

This article was written by Sanjeev Sawai, Chief Product and Technology Officer at mPulse Mobile, and was originally published on healthcareittoday.com on April 14, 2023.

The expansion and specialization of health networks has made it difficult for most consumers to navigate and advocate for themselves within today’s healthcare organizations.

For the average health consumer, simply identifying in-network providers, requesting a cost estimate, or scheduling a medical test presents a major hassle. Add a chronic condition or difficult diagnosis in the mix and the burden of accessing required care only increases. Over time, unsatisfactory healthcare interactions leave consumers frustrated and burned out, eroding their trust in healthcare organizations’ ability to consistently and reliably provide the care they need.

But there’s a solution that can minimize the strain on consumers and healthcare organizations: AI.

Advances in AI and machine learning (ML), including ChatGPT, offer key opportunities for healthcare organizations to decrease administrative hurdles, enhance communication, and ultimately build stronger relationships with consumers. However, to deliver frictionless, personalized interactions, these tools require organizations to unify historically siloed technology platforms and data on the backend — factors that are often the root cause of consumers’ ongoing frustrations.

Applied at scale, AI tools ensure consumers can access the care they need — and enable healthcare organizations to provide exceptional service that earns consumers’ long-term trust.

Disparate Data Challenges Faster AI Adoption

To work effectively, AI tools require access to data capable of providing a holistic view of individual healthcare consumers. But centralizing data from core systems (including EHRs, CMSs, patient portals, and billing systems) is a difficult, time-consuming task. These efforts are often underfunded by healthcare organizations, resulting in delays that hamper innovation, including AI adoption.

As a result, interoperability ranks among the top three obstacles to innovation, according to healthcare executives and leaders — with many healthcare organizations still struggling to build infrastructure that enables their technology platforms to easily share information. By 2025, less than 30% of healthcare organizations plan to invest in the infrastructure (specifically data activation platforms and data lakes) necessary to achieve full interoperability.

Until foundational interoperability work is complete, healthcare organizations will settle for individual point solutions rather than comprehensive AI solutions capable of creating cohesive consumer experiences across all touchpoints.

The good news is many healthcare organizations already recognize the importance of dismantling entrenched digital fragmentation as a first step toward strengthening cybersecurity and exploring emerging cloud opportunities.Tapping into the benefits of consumer-centric AI tools presents another compelling incentive to fast track digital transformation and redirect resources toward more robust data management solutions.

How AI Builds Trust in Healthcare Organizations

When it’s integrated horizontally across your operations, consumers won’t necessarily realize they’re interacting with AI. It simply becomes an unobtrusive tool that improves access to information and services — strengthening consumer trust one frictionless interaction at a time.

Let’s take a closer look at two key benefits of a seamlessly integrated AI solution:

Cohesion Across Touchpoints

The demand for digital healthcare has exploded over the past few years — and consumers’ expectations for frictionless digital interactions have risen alongside it. But it’s difficult to meet every consumer’s desire for instant, personalized support with people-power alone.

AI-assisted chat capabilities help consumers access relevant medical and administrative information and perform simple tasks, like scheduling an appointment or refilling a prescription, around the clock. Likewise, AI tools can unify disparate operations centers by providing your organization with a single command center. Consumers are never left scouring multiple websites and apps for the information or contact point they’re seeking. Instead, they encounter consistent details no matter where they turn — whether online or in person.

Personalized and Positive Consumer Interactions

Nothing feels more impersonal to a consumer than repeatedly providing information to customer service agents who eventually redirect them to yet another siloed department. People want to be treated as humans, not numbers — especially in such a personal and stressful context as healthcare.

Paradoxically, AI can humanize your organization by offering personalized, useful interactions that drive engagement — and ultimately trust. By integrating insights from consumer data analytics and principles of behavioral science, AI tools enhance day-to-day engagements with consumers and better cater to their unique needs. This could go beyond administrative functions to include automated prompts or tailored text communications about preventive health measures or chronic illness management. For example, a two-way SMS messaging tool powered by AI could remind a consumer that it’s flu season, offer an easy prompt for scheduling an upcoming vaccination appointment, and provide educational resources encouraging vaccination based on a patient’s responses.

AI capabilities are poised to revolutionize the healthcare consumer experience, reducing administrative obstacles and improving communication between providers and patients. But to make AI deployments as effective as possible, your organization must first synthesize siloed technology platforms and data sources to establish a holistic, reliable view of all consumers across all operations centers. This reorchestration requires an initial IT investment, but the potential efficiency gains are enormous. And so are the benefits for consumers.

When implemented effectively at scale, AI tools make it easier for consumers to access healthcare — the first step in fostering a relationship of trust between consumers and their healthcare organizations.

About Sanjeev Sawai

Sanjeev Sawai, Chief Product and Technology Officer at mPulse Mobile, has a passion for building innovative software products. For the last decade and a half, he has led product and technology teams to deliver market-leading products. mPulse is a confluence of Sanjeev’s recent experience in healthcare, and a dozen years of past work in conversational AI and speech applications. Sanjeev has brought to market enterprise grade and SaaS-scale software products in a variety of markets, most notably telecommunications, financial services and healthcare. He has led the development of market-leading products in the voice solutions market and built embedded systems for defense applications. Previously, Sanjeev has held leadership positions in product development at HealthEdge, Altisource, Interactions, Envox, and Brooktrout.

How to Overcome Flu Vaccination Inequities This Flu Season

Posted on May 1, 2023February 26, 2024 by Andrea Amelse

The stark reality of flu vaccines is that they save millions from illness and death, yet there remains a significant inequality in vaccine distribution, particularly affecting certain demographics. During the 2022-23 flu season, while 173.37 million Americans were vaccinated, saving nearly $2.4 billion in healthcare costs, a concerning 46% of eligible Americans remained unvaccinated.

Solving vaccine inequity requires a deeper understanding of the social determinants of health (SDoH), such as age, race, and income, which play a pivotal role in these disparities. Notably, vaccination rates are considerably lower among Black, Hispanic, and American Indian/Alaskan Native adults, with hospitalization rates significantly higher among Black adults. Furthermore, adults with lower incomes and those in the 18-49 age group are less likely to receive the flu vaccine.

Identifying and addressing the root causes of these inequities is crucial for improving vaccination rates and ensuring equitable health outcomes for all in the upcoming 2023-24 flu season.

Understanding why these inequities exist is essential when designing programs to help overcome them.

Overcoming inequality in vaccine distribution through inclusive flu outreach

Addressing vaccine inequity requires tailored strategies that specifically target the underlying causes of these disparities. The CDC highlights a lack of accessibility, misinformation, and widespread distrust in the medical system as primary reasons for flu vaccine inequities. Crafting programs that focus on overcoming these barriers is crucial to enhancing flu vaccination rates and bridging the gap in inequality in vaccine distribution.

By implementing such targeted approaches, we can work towards ensuring equitable healthcare access for all member populations.

How to address and solve vaccine inequity through enhanced accessibility

Overcoming vaccine inequity necessitates addressing accessibility challenges that disproportionately affect disadvantaged groups. Many individuals face barriers such as unreliable transportation, disabilities, limited internet access, inflexible work schedules, and language or translation issues, making vaccination access difficult. These systemic issues often fail to accommodate all members’ diverse needs and preferences, creating an unequal landscape in vaccine distribution.

Fortunately, health plans have a significant opportunity to address these challenges. By implementing programs focusing on accessibility, they can identify individual barriers and provide customized resources to facilitate access. This requires an in-depth understanding of the target audience’s specific needs.

At mPulse, we utilize internal and external data to gain comprehensive insights into member needs, allowing health plans to create highly relevant digital touchpoints. Health plans can effectively identify and address individual barriers by engaging with members through their preferred communication channels, such as SMS, email, or IVR. The right message, delivered through the right channel, in the appropriate language, and accompanied by suitable resources, is key to meeting members where they are and improving flu vaccination rates.

Learn more about how to solve vaccine inequity and enhance vaccination rates by watching our on-demand webinar, “Double Flu Vaccination Rates for Your Health Population.”

Combating vaccine inequity with effective communication strategies

In the digital age, where misinformation and knowledge gaps about vaccines are prevalent, especially post-pandemic, it’s crucial to tackle vaccine inequity by providing trustworthy and pertinent vaccine information. Misconceptions about vaccinations, particularly the flu vaccine, have increased, underscoring the need for reliable information sources.

At mPulse, we aim to solve vaccine inequity by adapting the engaging formats of popular social media platforms. Our approach involves creating short-form content that is informative, educational, entertaining, and easy to consume. We focus on making content frictionless and engaging while ensuring it’s accessible to a broader audience. This includes featuring relatable characters representing diverse populations and offering multilingual options, which are vital to resonating with broader member groups and building credibility.

By sharing health content through each member’s preferred communication channels, we ensure they efficiently receive vital vaccine information. This method is particularly effective in addressing misinformation and bridging knowledge gaps, thereby playing a significant role in how to solve vaccine inequity. To see an example of how we bring this to life, view another fotonovela included in the mPulse Mobile Flu Vaccination Solution.

Building Trust to Address Vaccine Inequity

Addressing distrust in the medical system, often rooted in a history of structural racism and discrimination, is crucial in solving vaccine inequity. While health plans represent only one component of this complex issue, establishing trust with their members is vital. Utilizing digital trends for inspiration can significantly aid health plans in scaling their efforts effectively.

Creating multiple positive and meaningful touchpoints over time is key to developing and maintaining strong member relationships. At mPulse, we collaborate with health plans to provide empathetic messaging that conveys relevant and accessible information in each member’s preferred language and through the most appropriate channel. This approach helps ensure members feel supported and can rely on their health plan for essential care and resources, fostering greater trust and empowerment.

Simply notifying members about their due flu vaccines can be perceived as intrusive. Instead, our approach incorporates sensitive, culturally relevant messaging that leverages behavioral science techniques, cinematic educational content, and tailored resources. This strategy demonstrates an understanding of the member’s unique needs and genuine concern for their health.

When members feel that their health plan values and understands them, they are more likely to trust the plan and engage in healthier behaviors, thereby contributing to solving vaccine inequity.

Leveraging technology to overcome health disparities and boost flu vaccination rates

Technology is imperative in helping overcome health disparities and barriers to flu vaccinations. By leveraging innovative digital trends designed to serve vulnerable populations, health plans can begin broadening accessibility, educating and empowering members, and building trust at scale to improve vaccination rates and inspire healthier outcomes for the people they serve.

mPulse Mobile designs solutions that identify and overcome barriers to action. Our behavior change model incorporates health equity, behavioral science, and instructional strategy to deliver best-in-class outcomes.

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Month: May 2023