By Rahul Mehta, senior vice president and head of data management proficiency, CitiusTech.
Rahul Mehta
The sheer volume and variety of data, such as claims, EMRs, lab systems, and IoT now available to healthcare organizations is mind-boggling. The potential to pull data from these myriad sources to work for real-time care intervention, clinical quality improvement, and value-based payment models is unfolding fast.
Yet, as organizations seek to aggregate, normalize and draw insights from large and diverse data sets, the importance of data quality becomes apparent. Consider an activity as fundamental as identifying the correct patient. According to Black Book Research, roughly 33 percent of denied claims can be attributed to inaccurate patient identification, costing the average hospital $1.5 million in 2017.
For example, the average cost of repeated medical care due to inaccurate patient identification with a duplicate record is roughly $1,950 per inpatient stay and more than $800 per emergency department visit.
As data quality become more important, healthcare organizations need to understand the key characteristics that affect quality: accuracy, completeness, consistency, uniqueness and timeliness. However, data reliability and integrity also depend on other key factors, including data governance, de-duplication, metadata management, auditability and data quality rules.
With a strategic approach, healthcare organizations can employ a unified data strategy with strong governance for data quality across all data types, sources and use cases, giving them the ability to scale and extend to new platforms, systems and healthcare standards. The result is an approach that uses a combination of industry best-practices and technology tools to overcome common challenges and assure data quality for the long term.
Understanding Data Quality Challenges
Historically, providers and payers alike treated data quality as a peripheral issue, but that is no longer viable in today’s complex data ecosystems. First, there are a diversity and multiplicity of data sources and formats: EHRs, clinical systems, claims, consumer applications, and medical devices. Add to that, challenges associated with legacy applications, automation needs, interoperability, data standards and scalability.
Lastly, there are increasing numbers of use cases for clinical quality, utilization, risk management, regulatory submission, population health, and claims management that need to be supported.
Considering the current data environment, the downstream effects of data quality issues can be significant and costly. For example, in the case of patient matching as referenced above, something as common as two hospitals merging into the same health system, but following different data-entry protocols, can lead to duplicate and mis-matched patient records. It can also lead to critical patient data elements, such as date of birth, being documented differently by different facilities and then made available across multiple systems, in varying formats.
When it comes to waste management in hospitals, it’s easy to imagine old needles, bags of toxic organic waste, and a broad range of other disturbing materials. However, many hospitals also have other issues when it comes to effective waste management.
Just as with any other large building, complex, or organization, the amount of standard MSW and non-medical waste that is generated is staggering, and without proper waste management systems, there is always the potential for it to end up in landfill.
Today, as the world wakes up to its mounting waste problem, some hospitals are at the forefront of a technological revolution that’s streamlining recycling systems and ensuring reduction across a range of waste streams. Here, we look at how new technology is helping hospitals to reduce waste and what that means for the third decade of the 21st century.
Multiple Locations, One Waste Management Plan
Among the many issues surrounding waste management in hospitals, the “siloed” nature of the buildings themselves present a significant challenge. Hospital campuses can be vast, containing multiple buildings, sometimes spread across entire cities. Additionally, each building may produce a range of waste, and each has varying requirements when it comes to collection and disposal.
Managing these sprawling campuses is complex, in both economic and logistical terms, but consolidating waste management strategies through centralized platforms can help overcome significant admin hurdles.
One point of contact can ensure the efficient collection of a range of waste materials from different locations at different times. This kind of approach has been fueled by the advances in app-based connectivity, meaning that operations managers working from different areas of the city can simply log their requirements and arrange collection and disposal directly from a smartphone or tablet device.
Smart Waste Management
Tracking, measuring, and assessing the variety of products used and the waste created by their use is key to reducing the amount of material that requires management. Advanced recovery solutions and RFID/GPS tracking are seen as key technologies in this sector, providing more accurate data on stock usage, discarded materials, and where waste is disposed in relation to a broad range of hospital consumables.
Tracking waste provides transparency and ultimately allows hospitals to ensure waste is delivered to the correct facilities—boosting recycling levels and improving sustainability goals. However, it also allows hospitals to better manage stock levels and daily needs, reducing waste through better management of consumables.
Today’s technologies are cutting waste off at the source by gathering data on how hospitals use products and materials and how they are dealt with after use. A simple scan of a RFID code is usually all that is required to track stock levels and usage, while GPS tracking of waste allows hospitals to provide full transparency on how waste is deal with.
Nurses play an all important role in healthcare’s shift from sick care to wellness-based models as the front-line professionals closest to patients. Always an intricate balance of art and science, nursing practice most continue to evolve to place patients where they should have been all along—in the center of care.
An independent survey commissioned by Wolters Kluwer of nearly 2,000 consumers, nurses, doctors, and healthcare executives in the U.S. provides insights into the top trends that will shape priorities over the next few years – for care teams, hospital leaders, health systems and consumers.
The below infographic details key findings related to challenges and opportunities impacting the nursing profession including perspectives on:
the impact of professional shortages
the growing importance of holistic care that addresses social determinants of health
generational differences between practicing nurses
More than ever, nurses need to demonstrate knowledge, confidence, competence, professionalism, empathy and kindness. And they need to be equipped with the right evidence-based tools and education resources to thrive in a changing healthcare landscape.
The technology that has made you stagnant and lazy is the same technology that will help you get back in shape. Today we’ll be learning about the five most innovative health apps that you must use in 2020.
If you have some amazing healthcare app ideas, leave that in the comments.
There exists an old proverb, “Health is the true wealth of a man.” We’ve heard it countless times from our teachers, parents, and our doctor, so much that now we have forgotten the meaning of it. But to remind us of the importance of health comes the very same source that people blame these days for ruining it; smartphones. Thus, healthcare software becomes an integral part of your daily routine.
Just as E=MC2 was not created by Einstein to build an atomic bomb, it was for the growth of humans and not for their destruction. Similarly, smartphones were built for the ease and growth of humanity, but several people have a notion that smartphones are the issue.
The real reason is that they are only looking for such people that have engrossed themselves in the mobile world and lost track of their health. But, you can’t blame a piece of technology for the decisions that you make about your health.
So to prove all those ignorant people wrong, we are here with the list of five most innovative health apps of 2020.
ClotMD
The name of the app itself gives an idea of what the app is related to. This healthcare app idea is concentrated on a niche audience. The ClotMD app connects patients needing anticoagulation medication with their healthcare providers and allows them to communicate in real-time via the medical app.
Besides the means of being the contact source between the patients and the medication providers, there are several other features that the healthcare app offers, such as:
Manage INR Levels
Dosing Calculations
Testing Schedules
Consists of a built-in diet library
Able to manage different dosage levels and schedules
Track your results and share the history with any healthcare professional
Offers real-time alerts regarding the testing schedule and other appointments
Doximity
By using this Doximity healthcare application, users get access to the largest medical professional network, which consists of more than 70% of physicians as members. This healthcare mobile app was developed by the same team that built Epocrates, another marvelous medical app for mobiles.
With Doximity, you can search for doctors with a wide range of filters like location, hospital affiliation, experience, clinical interests, publication, specialty, or language.
Some of the key features of the Doximity app are:
Access to the largest directory of Medical Professionals
Users can send their HIPAA-compliant faxes securely from anywhere
Personalized Medical News & Articles
Annotate your Healthcare Documents Directly in the App
ACT.md
ACT.md is an exceptional healthcare application that offers several tools to allow healthcare service providers to view the complete information of a patient’s requirements and manage them accordingly.
With Act.md, medical professionals can serve each patient with different parameters according to their individual needs and work simultaneously with other medical experts across the healthcare sector.
Amazon has been slowly making forays into fields outside of retail, a sector they currently dominate. One of their latest changes is moving into the healthcare and life sciences fields by offering a HIPAA-compliant transcription program.
What does this service provide, how will it change the medical field and when can professionals expect to see this program in their workplace?
Amazon Transcribe Medical
Amazon is putting their machine learning systems and processing power to good use with its Transcribe Medical service, a technology that’s supposed to improve speech-to-text transcriptions for clinical documentation and patient records.
Traditionally, transcription is carried out by the practitioner or assistant. Either way, clinicians spend extra hours each day converting verbal documentation into digital items for storage in the patient’s electronic health records (EHRs).
Transcribe Medical uses machine learning to transcribe a professional’s verbal dictation into digital records. By using its own previous experience to convert data, this software can work more quickly and accurately than human scribes.
Electronic health records have come a long way since first introduced in 1972. Today, more than 85% of doctors’ offices have fully adopted EHRs. Yet many employees say these advances increase their working hours. Amazon Transcribe Medical could be the tool that allows universal adoption of EHRs without increasing physician burnout.
Amazon in Healthcare
Transcribe Medical isn’t Amazon’s first venture in the healthcare industry. Early in 2018, the company started looking for someone to fill a new role — a HIPAA compliance lead. In the last year, the retail giant launched a brand of over-the-counter medications, offered equipment directly to offices and hospitals and even took steps to acquire multiple pharmaceutical companies, such as PillPack in the U.S. and MedPlus in India.
Amazon planned to become a major pharmaceutical supplier for hospitals but backed off in April of 2018 in favor of working with less-sensitive medical supplies.
Regardless of plans shelved or canceled, Amazon has made it clear that it intends to become a significant player in the healthcare industry, even if it means they’re only selling medical supplies and — as Transcribe Medical shows — assisting physicians with their transcription needs.
With the new year, healthcare c-suite members are taking a critical look at upcoming market movement to maintain a holistic view of their organizations’ needs. Discussing industry trends at the recent College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) CIO Forum, Anna Pannier, senior director of Ascension Technologies at Ascension Saint Thomas, noted the significant change taking place in the value-based care and wellness marketplace as a top concern for healthcare organizations.
As healthcare leaders, like Pannier, look to stabilize their IT strategies and drive meaningful patient outcomes and operational efficiency, they should assess these five c-suite hot-button topics in the next year.
The shift in data analytics
As a more mainstream solution in the healthcare industry, data analytics is not considered the big “game changer” any longer, but it is still a significant investment focus for providers over the next year. Many healthcare facilities assume that once an analytics platform is implemented, they are ahead of the game. Unfortunately though, those same organizations fail to customize dashboards, continuously assess data, or really break down data insights for meaningful change and care decisions. Driving quality outcomes through data analytics to prepare for the future of population health risk management will be a large focus in proactive facilities.
Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Artificial intelligence and machine learning in healthcare has now surpassed data analytics on the new investment frontier. The industry has already seen AI application in pathology and radiology in the past year. Eighty percent of healthcare professionals believe that AI is helping to reduce physician burnout, according to a MIT Technology Review survey. Respondent hospitals said AI has increased patient consult time, improved team collaboration and boosted productivity through workflow enhancements.
Similar to data analytics, the CIO will need to work with leadership groups in both the clinical and business sides to determine AI use cases across their evolving organizations. Thought typically applied to clinical care, applying automation and AI on the operations side will drive workload transformation across key business functions.
Greater emphasis on patient engagement
With most organizations having a fully implemented EHR, healthcare organizations are looking to make the most of their long-term investment. Added pressure from value-based care documentation and reimbursement initiatives, as well as increased consumer expectations, drive emphasis on patient engagement. Yet, meaningfully connecting and interacting with healthcare consumers in their patient care plans still lacks.
In fact, pointing to limited or complicated instructions for the everyday patient, a study in the Journal of General Internal Medicine found that hospitals are not properly preparing patients to take advantage of patient portals. More healthcare organizations are now seeking around-the-clock direct patient portal support, as an extension of their IT service desk’s capabilities. This coupled with remote virtual monitoring will drive improved patient outcomes in the next year.
By Steve Forcum, cloud solutions engineering leader, Avaya.
A recent report on hybrid cloud in the healthcare industry predicts that hybrid cloud is set to jump from 19% penetration to 37% by 2021. In an industry historically slow to adapt in the world of IT, why is hybrid cloud becoming healthcare’s primary choice?
To be fair, there was hesitancy in most major markets when it came to cloud services, many questioning the security of it all and even how it functions on a basic level. Cloud-based data centers that can either be run by third parties (public) or built and maintained internally (private).
And now that the mystery of the cloud has been de-stigmatized in the workplace, more and more organizations are turning to the cloud as its primary servers, but don’t want to give up control completely. This is where hybrid cloud comes into play.
A hybrid cloud serves as the best of both worlds. With a hybrid model, there is a channel that links an established, private computing system with a public cloud, providing access to unlimited processing power.
Both the private cloud and public cloud work in tandem to run applications, depending on decreased and increased workloads. Here’s why this is important for healthcare professionals:
The Data Storing Problem
The healthcare industry more than most, has immense amounts of data stored on its legacy servers filled with Electronic Health Records (EHRs). Although a private cloud helps keep this information safe with a firewall, the flooding of medical records may cause other applications to slow or even crash, forcing providers to buy and install more servers just to keep the system running.
This costs money and time — both crucial and limited in a healthcare environment. The hybrid cloud serves to remedy this problem as it allows applications to run from both the largely scalable public and secure private cloud, depending on demand.
IT Maintenance
The hybrid cloud model is set to save the cumbersome task of troubleshooting. Often, hospitals and clinics have to undergo a long approval process that is HIPAA compliant before they are granted the permission and resources to update and install its outdated or outgrown software. Because the public part of the hybrid cloud is maintained by a third-party, it is constantly being updated, relieving the healthcare employees of software upkeep and maintenance.
No Compromise on Security
When it comes to a hybrid cloud, there is no need to compromise on customization. Healthcare IT professionals have full control over what assets are kept on the private data center and what gets moved to the public cloud. Privacy is not jeopardized when sensitive information can still remain behind the internal firewall. For example, while less sensitive data such as appointment requests can run on the public cloud, EHRs can stay protected by the private system’s firewall.
As we look towards 2020, it’s the perfect time to migrate your health IT infrastructure to the hybrid cloud.
Of the nation’s $3.5 trillion in annual healthcare spending, 90 percent is for people with chronic and mental health conditions. Can healthcare institutes afford not to engage in the 2020 wave of preventative care healthcare disruption? While healers are not prognosticators, savvy healthcare CEOs have their eye on 2020.
For those riding the disruption wave, the answer is simple. CMS alone is providing more than $80 billion in reimbursements for preventive care initiatives. This calculation alone does not count on complex chronic care conditions and other follow-ups from preventive care engagements.
Also, CMS aims at containing the growth of acute care reimbursement. It has almost the same “carrot and stick” model used for the evolution from paper to electronic. Stay on the paper train and get penalized or get on the preventative care train and receive financial incentives.
Earthquake or Hurricane?
Both natural disasters are simply disasters. We do not use this analogy from a disaster standpoint, but from our ability to monitor the progress towards controlling the impact. Earthquakes cannot be foreseen. A hurricane cannot be monitored to the exact point of where it will hit, but at least it can be monitored to approximately when it will hit and its potential impact.
The paper evolution is like an earthquake to healthcare with its aftershocks still being felt today without the ability to plan much upfront. The preventive care evolution is more like an imminent hurricane. We know it is coming, we know when it lands, but we don’t know where it is going. We need to deal with it and manage where it will take us. Those unprepared will suffer the most negative impacts. Would your healthcare facility take this risk?
Most healthcare institutes have deployed an EHR system, almost completing the evolution from paper to electronic medical records. This was the first wave of healthcare disruption. However, we are now realizing that this was much more of a disruptive process in healthcare than anyone realized, as its impact has gone way beyond how patient medical data is recorded.
Power vs. Paper
It began with requirements for care providers to use an electronic system in place of the traditional paper approach, opening for a potential patient medical information exchange, improving care quality and efficiency. CMS rolled out preventive care reimbursements starting with the Annual Wellness Visit (AWV) in 2015.
CMS then continued to invest in preventive care through additional reimbursements, such as chronic care management, remote patient monitoring, behavioral health integration and transitional care management.
Every year, CMS has either expanding current reimbursements or deployed new preventive care services. This strategy is based on the patient centered medical home with the objective to curb healthcare cost with preventive care measures, a 6:1 ROI versus acute care.
Reimbursements as incentives led to the next wave of healthcare disruption in which care providers’ workflows were impacted on how to record patient medical records. These preventive care initiatives created fundamental changes impacting almost every operational aspect of a care provider’s workflow.
Preventive Care
Today, it is all about preventive care: simply put, the patient is not yet a patient until he or she encounters pain. The patient is not yet sick. The operational model is not reactive. The demand is to anticipate and monitor conditions so care providers can act before the patient encounters a serious medical problem. This causes changes in the operational workflows for healthcare institutes and their workflow.
In the patient engagement model, there is the acute care model in which it is the patient who makes an appointment or visit. For preventive care, it is care providers and healthcare institutes conducting the outreach. However, without the patient outreach model, healthcare institutes cannot realize the full financial incentives offered by CMS.
In non-face-to-face engagements, patients contact their primary care providers for consultation, but that model is different from the preventive care one. In the acute care environment, care providers cannot bill for the engagements, but can bill for visits and appointments. In the preventive care environment, care providers can bill for services, but it is up to care providers (and their staff) to reach out, monitor patient conditions and meet the time required for billing.
When it comes to waste management in hospitals, it’s easy to imagine old needles, bags of toxic organic waste, and a broad range of other disturbing materials. However, many hospitals also have other issues when it comes to effective waste management.
By Paresh Sagar, CEO, 
Amazon has been slowly making forays into fields outside of retail, a sector they currently dominate. One of their latest changes is moving into the healthcare and life sciences fields by offering a HIPAA-compliant transcription program.
With the new year, healthcare c-suite members are taking a critical look at upcoming market movement to maintain a holistic view of their organizations’ needs. Discussing industry trends at the recent College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) CIO Forum, Anna Pannier, senior director of Ascension Technologies at Ascension Saint Thomas, noted the significant change taking place in the value-based care and wellness marketplace as a top concern for healthcare organizations.
By Steve Forcum, cloud solutions engineering leader, 