How to Improve Operations and Health Outcomes Through Data Partnerships

This article is adapted from the Real Time Medical Systems eBook “How to Cultivate Partnerships and Leverage Patient Data to Control Costs and Improve Outcomes.” A link to download the eBook is at the end of this article.

COVID-19 shook the health care industry to its core, putting infrastructure, staff and operations to the ultimate test. While unprecedented challenges wreaked havoc on the experience for both patients and providers, they also forced the industry to evolve.

A compressed timeline of clinical and operational advancement created new opportunities to incorporate tools and services that came into their own during the pandemic, revealing areas of improvement that will shape the industry in 2022 and beyond.

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To understand how today’s health care landscape is changing, skilled care providers need to acknowledge the importance of data partnerships, and how data helps boost health outcomes and controls costs. With quality care prioritized over visit volume, the vision and the direction of health care as a whole has shifted. CMS continues to launch value-based payment programs, with more providers recognizing the significance of value-based care amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.

In addition to the expansion of value-based care, provider vulnerabilities and inadequacies remain industry-wide, challenges that were often overlooked prior to the pandemic. From staffing and PPE to remote monitoring technology, acute and post-acute providers and even primary care physicians can never have too many safeguards. Enabling access to current, reliable data is a big part of that.

“All the stars are aligning to expand value-based health care,” says Barry Freedman, former President and CEO of Einstein Healthcare Network. “It’s clear that the government intends to move increasingly in that direction — and the pandemic has absolutely reinforced its importance. Participants at every point along the health care continuum must acknowledge the importance of value-based care, and make a commitment to it.”

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Data partnerships that drive success

Value-centric health care is already a reality. Yet it will not reach its full potential without collaboration — specifically, partnerships between acute and post-acute care facilities. In order to provide a framework for what those partnerships should look like, Real Time Medical Systems outlines four fundamental initiatives for developing PAC relationships that can become advantageous to all parties (including shared patients):

  1. Better communications
  2. Interoperability
  3. Standardized care and quality measures
  4. Greater transparency about problems and solutions

Every touchpoint in the patient journey generates data, and by following these four initiatives, providers can analyze, leverage and communicate relevant insights to improve outcomes as the patient moves through the continuum of care.

The right data enables both acute and post-acute caregivers to see the entire trajectory of a patient. But when there is a lapse in real-time information, providers are forced to make care decisions using data that is weeks, sometimes months old. When EHR data is accurate up to the minute, the patient’s health status drives the care decisions, leading to better outcomes and a positive patient experience.

“We don’t need to ask patients or providers to go to one more portal or application to find what they’re looking for,” says Dr. Steven Stein, Chief Medical Officer at Real Time Medical Systems. “By sending up-to-date and important information directly to them, we are giving them what they need to know on the device that’s most convenient and familiar to them at the time they need to see it in order to act and reduce preventable admissions to the hospital.”

Efficient, cost-effective care

On the provider side, Real Time offers another framework with key objectives around improving efficiency, reducing readmissions and shortening length of stay. These objectives are critical as the cost of health care increases disproportionately to reimbursements. Technology combats that, with Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) making it easier for all stakeholders to access EHRs. APIs enable different applications to speak the same language, turning otherwise unusable data into organized, actionable information.

Ultimately, providers can build a proactive approach to tackling the opportunities and challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Data partnerships are going to be a foundational element of success as providers navigate the post-pandemic landscape.

“When everyone follows the same clinical guidelines, evaluates data, and measures quality in the same way, costs go down and efficiency goes up,” says Di Smalley, former ACHE Chair and Real Time’s Health System and ACO Advisor. “The more they share patient issues, and how they respond to them, the better the outcomes.”

Real Time Medical Systems is the industry-leading Interventional Analytics solution that turns data into actionable insights. To learn more, download the Real Time Medical Systems eBook, How to Cultivate Partnerships and Leverage Patient Data to Control Costs and Improve Outcomes.”

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