Electronic medical records always have been an important repository of patient treatment information.
Although the vast majority of core EMRs were designed around a basis of episodic care, they continue to grow in importance, not only because of the data they include but because today’s healthcare consumers expect and will ultimately demand more from the health and wellness experience.
Many patients believe their health insurer doesn’t know or understand them as an individual. Recent research found 61 percent of healthcare consumers “believe that their health plan gives similar incentives and recommendations to the entire population.” The report also found 73 percent of healthcare consumers said their insurance plan doesn’t understand their health. Only recently have major payers redesigned the care and consumer engagement strategy around the “individual,” not just the masses.
The challenge in meeting these expectations is that many EMR systems are not configured to “talk” with legacy or new IT systems like revenue cycle management and patient analytics. Additionally, EMRs from hundreds of different vendors can’t exchange even basic information readily. Yes, “Meaningful Use Standards” have been set to change this, but we are still at a very early stage. In addition, there is still a significant division between data sharing among the major EMRs. Not to downplay the cost issue, but in the end “who pays in the data sharing game” remains as another major hurdle on the journey to interoperability.
Unfortunately, this makes the patient (and provider) experience difficult and fraught with duplicative or incomplete data sets as patients travel from primary care provider to specialist and back again. In fact, 38 percent of hospitals are planning some type of EMR optimization in the next three years to try and remedy these issues, according to a KPMG report.
The Future is Digital
Digital workflow tools can help organizations build an integrated EMR without scrapping the solution already in place: System unification can help healthcare consumers get to the levels of care and provider interaction they want. Interoperability among multiple systems—patient portal, revenue cycle management, wearables and social media—all are necessary to move the EMR forward and get it to where it needs to be. Excluding one or more of these systems from the digital workflow can wreak havoc on potentially positive health outcomes.
“When clinical, financial and operational data are integrated, then organizations are able to more efficiently serve patients – as the shared information can be used to inform caregivers and staff at various patient touchpoints. The integrated data also can provide the big-picture view that makes it possible to improve the delivery of care and services across the entire care continuum,” the KPMG report says.
One way to make the EMR more user-friendly and effective is by enabling a mobile version for use. EMR systems accessible through mobile devices result in 60 percent faster documentation of vital signs and 83 percent less data being transcribed manually, according to one report.
Leveraging the new standards such as SMART Health IT, FHIR (Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources) and moving to an API-first strategy could finally accelerate the movement to more of a digital enablement of healthcare workflow as well as the true engagement of the healthcare consumer, no longer simply defined as a patient or a member.
The EMR digital-workflow approach has the ability to serve the many stakeholders involved in healthcare:
• Patients;
• Primary care physicians;
• Collaborative care team members;
• Specialists;
• Hospitals; and
• Clinics.
Digital services are often over-hyped, but in this instance, the hype is real and can be executed today. The digital workflow allows aggregation of data from many sources that usually have difficulty communicating. Provider, patient and institutional stakeholders understand the importance of bringing together healthcare information and the potential impact it can make on health and financial outcomes. The buy-in today comes from all ends of the healthcare spectrum, and that’s a good place to be as we enter 2018.
Joel Gleason is Senior Vice President & Global Market Head - Provider Segment at Cognizant, one of the world's leading professional services companies, transforming clients' business, operating and technology models for the digital era.