Where data-driven transformation meets humanity.
The Bartosch Patient Activation Institute is Upfront's applied research center, dedicated to solving your most complex healthcare challenges by combining research, data, and design with human insights to achieve best-in-class patient activation outcomes.
Solving real-world challenges in healthcare delivery
Today’s patients are choosing healthcare based on experience — and healthcare organizations don’t make it easy for patients to get the care they need.
Whether it’s finding an easy way to schedule appointments or addressing a lack of transportation, patients want their unique needs met.
At the Bartosch Patient Activation Institute, we’re dedicated to minimizing action barriers and improving health equity to create a curated, targeted, and human-centered experience to activate all patients to the care they need.
Our applied research center serves as the brain trust of Upfront; it’s where our team of healthcare experts share evidence-backed research and insights captured through the Upfront platform to move beyond engagement, so we can continuously improve our product and transfer patient activation best practices to the field.
Because every patient deserves high quality care
At Upfront, we believe in the promise of personalization in healthcare. It is our responsibility to ensure that every patient is treated with dignity and respect, and receives a high-quality healthcare experience.
The Bartosch Patient Activation Institute drives actionable best practices for improving health equity by addressing common social risks and grounding communication in everyday language to authentically connect with patients and address health barriers that prevent people from getting the care they need and deserve.
Our applied research approach
The Bartosch Patient Activation Institute is committed to advancing health equity for all patients — not just high-risk individuals. We remain focused on building a highly-personalized and authentic approach to patient activation to maximize the impact of our technology and guide patients to necessary care.
- Consultative approach
- Design sprints
We structure brainstorming sessions to gain an understanding of our partners’ challenges and work to develop solutions using omnichannel outreach to optimize existing workflows.
- Inclusive UX design
- Rich, personalized content
Upfront combines compelling visual design with relevant, human-centered, and plain-language content to create next-generation microsites — designed to educate, motivate and engage every patient.
- Patient-data mapping
- Frictionless integration
Optimize engagement with every interaction with our in-depth analytics and reporting. Build a rich database of insights, monitor and measure progress, and pivot your approach to drive maximum outcomes.
- Barrier identification
- Proactive digital engagement
Get to know your patients on a deeper level. Along with patient-reported data, we incorporate sociodemographics, behavioral science, and psychographics inputs to address access barriers and activate patients to get the care they need.
Powering
better personalization
To truly individualize healthcare experiences, we must understand patients’ attitudes, values, lifestyles, and personalities. Getting to the root of a healthcare consumer’s unique motivations allows for targeted interactions based on their preferred communication style. One of many ways we personalize is through our proprietary psychographic segmentation model, bringing a longtime cornerstone of consumer science to healthcare delivery.
Meet our Patient Activation Experts
See how Upfront applied behavior science to engage half a million patients for necessary care at Prisma Health
Upfront's healthcare experts partnered with Prisma Health, one of the largest health systems in the U.S., to drive health outcomes and streamline operations with highly personalized, omnichannel outreach during the pandemic. After identifying key challenges, including patient hesitancy and staff burnout, Upfront implemented proven digital engagement strategies — grounded in behavioral science and psychographics — to reactivate over 450,000 patients, improve medication adherence, and boost preventive care participation. Upfront then integrated these strategies into Prisma’s existing workflows, reducing staff workload and generating $2 million in operational savings. Beyond the pandemic, Prisma Health continues to expand its collaboration with Upfront to engage patients at scale, optimize care delivery, and improve the health of the communities it serves.
Working with Upfront, we have been able to unlock new capabilities and rapidly scale to meet patients’ needs -- in a seamless, personalized way. Redesigning our Medicare Advantage experience in collaboration with the Institute - from enrollment, to booking necessary care, to easing post-visit referral scheduling - allows us to engage and activate members to get the care they need.
Debra Hayes
Vice President and Chief Operating Officer
Integrated Care Partners, HHC’s clinical integration organization
“We should be able to do better.”
Honoring the legacy of Barbara Bartosch
The Bartosch Patient Activation Institute commemorates the life and legacy of the late Barbara Bartosch, Vice President - Client Services at Upfront, with a significant investment in research and development centered on transforming the patient experience. Before Barbara passed away, she wrote the above words in her last blog post. Today, these words guide our company’s committment to bring equity, ease, and empathy to healthcare delivery.
Explore our resources
The Power of Psychographics in Healthcare
The key to motivating healthcare consumer behaviors starts with psychographics. Segmenting people by their attitudes, values, lifestyles, and personalities gets to the root of their motivation and allows you to target interactions based on their preferred communication style.
Embracing Personalization to Drive Patient Engagement
The healthcare industry continues to lag behind consumers’ preference for convenience and experience — leading to increased competition from retail players and patient defection. Learn why health systems need to ditch their “one-size-fits-all” approach and embrace personalization to create a positive patient experience.
Activating Patients to Take Charge of Their Health
Do you know the most underutilized resource in healthcare? Patients. That’s why it’s critical to curate a humanized experience at scale. When patients feel seen and heard they are more likely to take action. By combining behavioral science with psychographics, healthcare organizations can get to know their patients on the deepest level and get them to necessary care.
Connect with the Bartosch Patient Activation Institute
We can’t spur healthcare innovation without our client partners. If you’re interested in learning more about our research-backed approach to driving patient activation and improving outcomes, get in touch.