Showing posts with label healthcare technology. Show all posts
Showing posts with label healthcare technology. Show all posts

Tuesday, October 25, 2022

Why healthcare organizations need to invest in application rationalization

There’s no doubt that COVID-19 strained the very fabric of our society, pushing the limits of everything from economies to governments to the brink of collapse. But with its wiles, the pandemic also accelerated the digital transformation of life at breakneck speed. And one of the brightest focal points of that transformation has been healthcare. The pandemic has single-handedly forced the adoption of digital technology within health systems at a scale that makes prior endeavors seem like mere tinkering.

According to data from Allied Market Research, the value of the US healthcare IT market was estimated to be $96 billion in 2020. But thanks to pandemic-generated pressures, the firm expects the market to jump more than 350% over the remainder of the decade, reaching $344 billion by 2030. However, according to experts, this level of spending could put more strain on a system that’s already digging under couch cushions to find IT funding.


The struggle between funding and IT innovation


“While healthcare organizations struggle to control ever-increasing costs, technology is advancing more rapidly than ever before,” said Tabitha Lieberman, President, EHR and Healthcare Applications at Brightwork Health IT. “Because of this, IT leaders are under pressure to advance innovation without breaking the bank in the process. And that has created IT environments in some health systems that are full of patchwork and legacy systems held together, metaphorically speaking, with baling wire and duct tape.”

Brightwork Health IT is a specialized consultancy that helps healthcare organizations tackle large IT implementations, digital transformation initiatives, and the management of technical resources. And according to the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society’s 2021 Most Influential Women in Health IT award recipient, application rationalization is a great way for healthcare IT leaders to clear the clutter and make the most of their IT budgets.


Application rationalization is what the doctor ordered


“There is no avoiding it; hospitals and health systems have to invest heavily in IT infrastructure, technical talent and cybersecurity to keep their organizations running smoothly,” added Lieberman. “But the pandemic upped the ante by accelerating the adoption of things like virtual care, digital transformation and patient-driven healthcare ecosystems. This has made application rationalization essential because most healthcare IT budgets just aren’t big enough to rebuild what’s already there completely.

The easiest way to define application rationalization is that it is the process of diving into an organization’s technology inventory to determine which applications should be retained, upgraded, retired, or reengineered. And this reorganization is key to increasing efficiencies and reducing the cost of IT ownership.

“After the analysis of IT inventory, the next step is to retire outdated, low-value applications and then modernize the legacy tools that are considered high-value,” added Lieberman. “You should also eliminate redundant applications. And cleaning up IT clutter by standardizing platforms and versions, and consolidating applications into a single IT repository is also extremely important.”



Too much tech leads to bloat


Although it seems easy enough, in theory, application rationalization can be a daunting task for any organization. A 2022 Mulesoft report found that, on average, organizations now use 976 individual applications, compared to 843 a year ago. But this is a drop in the bucket compared to the volume of technologies utilized by healthcare organizations. When you factor in IoT-enabled medical devices, platforms like EHRs, CRMs, instrumentation and more, a health system’s technology inventory can easily exceed tens of thousands of applications.

In addition to a high cost of ownership and inefficiency, this amount of technical bloat can also open healthcare organizations to vulnerabilities.

“Technical bloat isn't only a drain on resources; it also opens healthcare organizations up to serious security risks,” said Lieberman. “Complexity and security are conversely related. As one grows the other diminishes. Therefore, ongoing application rationalization should also be considered a cybersecurity measure.”


A growing concern for healthcare organizations


A recent survey by Sophos found that ransomware attacks on healthcare organizations increased 94% from 2021 to 2022. This is extremely concerning when you consider that two-thirds of healthcare organizations in the US experienced a ransomware attack in 2021. And the problem isn’t because of a few bored teenagers testing their hacking skills; the threat comes from government-sponsored black hats. In early July, CISA put out an alert that North Korean state-sponsored actors are targeting healthcare organizations with a strain of ransomware known as Maui.

Two big reasons why healthcare organizations are so vulnerable to attack are a lack of dedicated resources and far too many things to target. According to reporting by Healthcare Finance News, only around 7% of the average healthcare provider's IT budget is focused on cybersecurity. And as mentioned previously, the other issue is the sheer volume of technologies IT departments must contend with. Old, unchecked systems are easier to exploit.

In 2019, a ransomware attack rendered the systems of three DCH Health System hospitals in Alabama useless. A lawsuit alleges that the attack resulted in the death of an infant at one hospital. According to a 2019 American Medical Association-Accenture Medical Cybersecurity Survey, 36% of health institutions were unable to provide care for at least five hours as a result of cyberattacks. The cause of the vulnerability at DCH was unknown because the health system has thousands of computer devices in its network.


When application rationalization is needed


If you’re wondering if application rationalization is needed in your organization, Lieberman has this advice.

“A good indication of how badly your organization needs application rationalization is the percentage of IT department resources that are going into maintaining its current portfolio and environment versus how much is available for investment in new technologies,” she said. “If all your available resources are going into the technologies you currently have, it’s time to do an application rationalization. And even if things are more balanced, it’s good practice to do a periodic analysis.”


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Tuesday, August 9, 2022

Technology empowers private practices to sustain their role in the healthcare ecosystem

Last year, hospitals and other corporate-owned entities overtook nearly 14 thousand independent practices nationwide. This influx in acquisitions is primarily attributed to the economic struggles independent practices were experiencing as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. New data indicates that nearly three-quarters of doctors in the U.S. now work for hospitals and large-scale health facilities, a number that is up from 69 percent a year ago.

The benefits that stem from independent practices include access to care in rural communities, lower care costs, and better patient experiences. However, for independent practices to thrive, it will largely depend on how well they can adapt and implement emerging technology to streamline practice operations and bring patients a better overall experience.

Provider burnout drives consolidation

Since the pandemic, many medical providers have faced severe burnout and strain, working around-the-clock hours under hazardous conditions. Consolidation is often forced by burnout and exhaustion of providers. Doctors went to school to provide care to patients. However, they become small business owners and face challenges of managing all operations, HR, IT, practice growth, reputation management, and revenue management.

With so many providers considering consolidation, the opportunity to receive fair and quality medical care from independent practices as opposed to large-scale hospital corporations is diminishing, dampening patient trust in the healthcare system.

The consumerization of healthcare



The consumerization of healthcare is a broad shift from the healthcare market to individual healthcare consumers, meaning individuals are asserting more influence over their medical and wellness care. Healthcare consumers want a convenient and digitally-enabled experience from the time they submit an inquiry to the treatment and subsequent follow-ups. Convenience and customized experiences drive consumer behavior. The pandemic accelerated the adoption of consumer-centric healthcare, starting with telehealth services.

Right now, the consumerization of healthcare is one of the biggest challenges, and opportunity providers face. By adopting digital tools and software, they can easily respond, putting the focus back on patient care. To do so, practices must be willing to embrace a new model with technology that delivers the digital experience that patients encounter every day across every other industry without slowing down providers and their staff.

Digital technology is key to a thriving practice


Daniel Spriggs, MD of Perdido Bay Medical Group and customer of Tebra, left a large medical group to start his practice in a rural community. As a small practice with four employees, implementing the right technology has been imperative in building an online presence to acquire new patients, streamlining administrative tasks that detract from patient care, and having the virtual tools to treat patients who can not visit his practice in person.

“Independent practices are crucial to the healthcare ecosystem and providing accessible care to patients when and where they need it. As a provider, I want to focus on my patients, and by implementing the right technology that mimics my workflows, I have the resources I need to remain independent, so I can serve the patients who depend on me,” said Dr. Spriggs.

For practices implementing technology to meet consumer demands and provide a competitive edge, key considerations include:
  • All-in-one Solutions: Often, providers end up with fragmented software solutions due to the complexity of the shopping experience. Disparate software solutions require duplicating workflows from scheduling and intake forms to clinical documentation and medical billing. By identifying each area of your practice that technology would benefit from, you can find the right solution to integrate into one platform. Moreover, the right solution will relieve staff from administrative tasks.
  • Technology Partners: The right technology partner will provide support beyond the implementation process and evolve with the constantly changing healthcare system. As regulatory requirements often change and can significantly impact how you submit and receive reimbursements, your technology partner should provide software updates to account for such changes and provide the education you need on changing regulations.
  • Patient First Focus: Technology for your practice should equally serve your patients and improve the experience and care they receive. Patients want digital touchpoints at every stage of their journey, from doctor discovery to payment and scheduling follow-ups. Ensure your technology stack serves your practice and your patient with an easy and streamlined experience.

When independent practices invest in the righttechnology, they will spend less time on operations and more time on personal, meaningful care. In addition, providers can restore work-life balance, reduce burnout and focus on why they became doctors - to deliver care.


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Wednesday, November 27, 2019

Medical practices have a love-hate relationship with the fax machine

The administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has issued a challenge to make physicians’ offices fax-free by 2020. But old habits die hard, especially when it comes to physicians and their patients.


Despite the fact that 86% of physician practices have an electronic health record (EHR) system,[1] many doctors still take notes by hand and utilize fax machines to send and receive data. Although advances have been made in technology, three-quarters of medical communication in the United States occurs by fax, which includes physical or legacy fax machines as well as more advanced faxing technologies such as cloud fax.[2]

Digital cloud fax technology represents next-generation communication capabilities, as documents flow seamlessly through secure email or electronic health information exchange (HIE) and can become part of an electronic patient record.

The demise of the physical fax machine has been predicted for decades, yet it remains a healthcare workhorse. By breaking the habit of paper-based fax and adopting more modern communications channels such as digital cloud fax technology, physician practices can save money, adopt more efficient workflow practices and reduce the chances for a data breach.

Status quo tough to change


The federal government offered more than $35 billion in incentives to encourage eligible professionals or eligible physician practices to adopt EHRs. While the adoption rate is high, the government didn’t mandate interoperability between systems, so disparate systems simply don’t talk to one another. Patient information such as a lab reports arrive via fax. Likewise, orders needing a physician signature, such as a care plan or a home health referral, remain mainly fax-based.

CMS Administrator Seema Verma addresses physical faxes and other forms of non-electronic communication when during a 2018 speech she says, “(H)ealth care providers are in a 1990’s time warp…where doctors are faxing patient records, medical staff are manually entering results into EHRs, and hospitals are handing out data on a CD-ROM while the rest of the economy is functioning on fully digitized, integrated data that informs decision-making instantaneously.”[3]


The problem with all these technology systems is that interoperability among each remains poor. While strides are being made on that front, large gaps remain in a truly integrated patient record. Technology is one hurdle, but the possibility of competition cannot be overlooked.

EHR vendors don’t have much incentive to make their systems compatible with others for fear of losing market share. Health systems and providers, too, can be reluctant to transfer patient information electronically to another hospital or physician to slow patient leakage from their facilities, so they may not be keen to promote interoperability.

Despite the march of technological progress in the exam room, many physicians still rely on handwritten notes and refer to paper copies of records. The fax remains a reliable way to communicate, where records are returned in a familiar format. The comfort level with existing practices cannot be overlooked, nor can the lack of incentives and availability of improved options for document distribution to replace physical faxing.

Strong arguments to make a change


The healthcare industry wastes more than $9 billion annually by continuing to use manual processes instead of electronic ones, according to the Council for Affordable Quality Healthcare. A manual process costs, on average, $6 more than an electronic one, but the difference can be as high as $11 more. Besides monetary savings, providers could save a minimum of 1.1 million labor hours per week by employing electronic transactions. Each fax or phone call requires an average of eight minutes to handle and as much as 30 minutes.[4]

Multiply each manual process, each phone call, each sent or received fax, and the costs add up quickly.

Industry consolidation has brought a new level of interoperability that is breaking down some of these communication barriers.

But the biggest reason change needs to occur may be the lack of security for a paper fax. HIPAA regulations mandate a tight chain of custody at all times, but it’s difficult to imagine a tight chain of custody for a fax machine in the copy room. Multifunction scanners also can expose PHI.

With the cost of a healthcare data breach topping $8 million, health systems and providers must take all necessary precautions to ensure that patient data in all forms remains safe and secure.

Bringing the fax into the digital age


Digital cloud faxing solves the problems and potential breaches associated with physical faxing. First, there is no more fax machine. Communications are sent by secure email, a fully HIPAA compliant solution. Documents are encrypted while in transmission and at rest, arriving directly in the in-box of the recipient, who logs in to view messages. Communications also can be sent through an HIE, another secure document exchange medium.

When deployed across an organization, faxes can be sent from any connected device: computer, tablet or smartphone through a secure mobile app. If communications need a higher level of security, documents can be stored in a secure server with 256-bit encryption.

If a breach occurs, companies that use HIPAA-compliant cloud faxing would be covered by the “safe harbor” provision of the Breach Notification Rule because the encrypted data had been rendered unusable, unreadable, or indecipherable to unauthorized individuals. “If protected health information is encrypted pursuant to this guidance, then no breach notification is required following an impermissible use or disclosure of the information.”[5]

The days of the physical fax machine are numbered – and physician practices would be smart to cut those ties sooner rather than later. Digital cloud faxing combines the utility of faxing with the security protocols that HIPAA regulations and commonsense demand while presenting information in a way that physicians and staff are accustomed to.

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