by Strategic Interests News | Nov 11, 2016 | Conferences, Consulting, HIT Strategy
The 2016 Digital Health Conference (DHC) will bring together 500 senior-level healthcare professionals to learn about cutting-edge innovations and foster dynamic conversation addressing how healthcare is being redefined through technology. Strategic Interests will be there meeting with past and future partners.
DHC features a diverse roster of thought-leading, incisive speakers from across the healthcare spectrum. New York’s healthcare and health tech community gather for two days of networking, lively intellectual exchange, and exploration to see what’s new, what’s cutting edge, and what will shape the future of healthcare.
Drop us a note if you’d like to set a time to meet us at the Digital Health Conference in New York City December 6-7, 2016.
by Brett Kinsler | Aug 12, 2016 | Consulting, HIT Strategy, Practice Transformation, Value Based Payment
One way we help our provider clients to transform their practices is by helping them prepare for value-based payment models. We are proud to have been selected to guide practices by the New York State Practice Transformation Network (NYSPTN). This is a statewide learning network designed to coach, mentor, and assist clinicians in developing core competencies necessary to transform their practices and thrive in an emerging healthcare environment that emphasizes value of care.
The NYSPTN embraces and supports the “quadruple aim” of better care, better health, lower costs, and greater provider satisfaction.
The program is funded by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to help practices develop quality improvement strategies, and navigate the complex healthcare environment and multiple transformation-related initiatives currently underway.
See the article from HealthLinkNY about the program:
http://www.healthlinkny.com/not-ready-for-value-based-payments-help-is-on-the-way-nw.html
by Brett Kinsler | Apr 13, 2016 | Consulting, Electronic Health Records, HIT Strategy, Interoperability
A fair number of our clients have been asking about FHIR lately so it’s time to fan the flames a bit and shed some light on this developing interoperability standard. FHIR (which is pronounced “fire”) is a methodology that was developed based on the standards from the HL7 organization, a non-profit. It stands for Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources. Essentially, FHIR is a universal translation tool that will permit the exchange of clinically-relevant data to be shared securely and more easily. Currently, when data is shared among disparate systems, there are limitations to what can be ingested into the system and often the information is trapped inside documents like PDFs that do not become fully integrated into the patient’s incoming chart.
One of the most interesting developments around FHIR is that many EHR vendors have agreed to support the concept and put efforts into implementation. Several of these vendors include industry leaders such as athenahealth, Cerner and even Epic, a system not particularly well-known to share freely with other EHRs.
It is important to note that FHIR is not yet a mandatory standard and vendors are free to adopt or ignore it at this time. Whether or not it succeeds in the goal of unifying clinical information exchange depends on a number of factors:
Fueling the FHIR:
1. Idealism. True interoperability is the right thing to do — providing a complete clinical picture of the patient improves quality of care and reduces needless time-consuming tasks for the patient, health systems and medical offices.
2. Apps. The market for applications that can be used across any and all EHRs will expand so industry pressures from outside the EHR vendors will help push adoption.
3. Regulatory. Government, regulatory agencies and payors may require FHIR adoption and tie its use to incentive-based payments. Following the money, this will advance the use of the standard.
Mixed Results:
1. Divergence. The ability for users to move more easily from one EHR to another will make some vendors fearful of losing customers while others will jump at the change to migrate new users to their products.
Extinguishing FHIR
1. Time. Changing to new standards across so many vendors is not a quick or easy process. It will probably be several years before there could even be moderately widespread usage. In the meantime, something new or better may emerge which will overshadow the FHIR initiatives.
2. Evolution. FHIR is far from complete and improvements will have to be made. However, if you consider how often apps send updates and companies like Google and Apple improve their APIs, this is to be expected.
3. Fear. Health systems and providers may not be willing to share data as freely as interoperability standards might require. Often, this is out of fear of leakage, or the loss of patients to another system or provider.
Interoperability is not just a technical problem of connecting pipes and watching the information flow. There are change management, financial, and strategic issues at play that must be properly handled. And though the government may step in and force the hand of vendors and providers, eliminating many of the choices, being prepared for multiple eventualities and planning in advance will help payers, providers and vendors position themselves for the future.
Strategic Interests has expertise in past, current and future interoperability standards including strategic planning, implementation and deployment. If you have questions or concerns about FHIR or other interoperability situations, let us help you plan your roadmap for success.
by Strategic Interests News | Sep 26, 2015 | HIT Strategy
“The only way for health IT to achieve its full potential, is when it unobstrusively supports individuals as they strive to reach their full potential for health.”
The Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT has finalized the Federal Health IT Strategic Plan for the next five years (2015-2020) and explains how the federal government intends to apply the effective use of information and technology to help the nation achieve its health care goals. The plan focuses on how to advance health information technology innovation and its use.
In an aim to modernize the U.S. health IT infrastructure, the expectation is for individuals, providers, and communities to use HIT to help achieve their health and wellness goals, while maintaining the individual person as the hub of the process.
There are four main areas of focus to the plan:
High-quality care
Lower costs
Healthy Population
Engaged People
The strategic goals to be achieved:
1. Advance Person-Centered and Self-Managed Health
2. Transform Health Care Delivery and Community Health
3. Foster Research, Scientific Knowledge, and Innovation
4. Enhance Nation’s Health IT Infrastructure
Overarching is that the “person” is to be at the center. This is indeed a shift from prior strategies when the goal was simply to make sure information was available. Now, the recommendation is to have a broader view of the health care delivery system as well as stressing scientific advancements and improvements in public health.
The structure of the plan enhances the importance of patient engagement and the impact health has on the family and the community.
Adoption of health care IT, while no longer the top of the initiatives, remains ingrained in every aspect of the plan. Viewing health care with a patient-centered focus, there are urges to collaborate efforts to achieve value, respect individual preferences, create an environment of learning and improvement and encourage innovation.
Overall, this is a positive step in moving the world of health care technology from one of raw data availability to a system that actively supports health, wellness and people.
Source: ONC Federal Health IT Strategic Plan 2015 – 2020
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