Taking A Proactive Approach To Tech Innovation

Last week I published a blog on our government series, GovNews, where I wrote about how government tech has spurred agencies to adopt new tech to help respond to the COVID-19 crisis. In the post I shared the quote, “Necessity is the mother of invention.” Though different, that same quote is easily translated into the healthcare industry.  

As I reflect on 2020, it without a doubt has been one of the most significant years in my lifetime for many reasons. Working for a healthcare IT solutions company, we saw how healthcare had to respond to the public desperation that was brought on by the pandemic. From a technology perspective, we saw many health networks pivoting repeatedly to try to keep up with patient demand, related to both the pandemic and their other needs.

Telemedicine: 

In early 2020 we saw entire networks transition their nonclinical staff to work from home which forced a quick ramp up of their telemedicine platforms. For years, the technology has been available to support a new method for delivering care to patients due to reasons such as workflows and billing, yet it took something like the pandemic to push departments to collaborate and make telemedicine the main delivery method for non-emergency patient care.

Data Analytics: 

When the pandemic hit, an even greater spotlight was put on data analytics. Whether that being virus surge planning or something as complex as the interoperability of the EMR, networks had to look internally and externally to come up with solutions that a.) were accurate and b.) could track and trend their data with little disruption to current workflows. 

These are just two examples of how COVID-19 brought unprecedented, and in most cases, permanent changes to the healthcare industry. There are many more, and based on how the industry was able to respond so quickly and effectively during a desperate time, they have proven that anything can truly come to fruition if we collaborate and adapt together. 

As I look onto 2021, I can see how it might be a pivotal year for healthcare. Organizations can take the lesson learned that it might better to be proactive than reactive when it comes to technological innovation within networks, workflows, and processes. With vaccines rolling out, and patient and provider expectations changed, there are plenty of ideas to consider as we start the new year:

Data Analytics & Interoperability:

Much like we saw data analytics become a priority in 2020, it’s expected that this will continue in the new year. As vaccine rollout is underway, keeping track of those shipments and when a given patient’s ‘tier’ is ready to receive their doses will require networks to implement a system that will be able to not only keep up with the incoming data, but also any possible changes to the current rollout program.

Beyond the pandemic, it became very clear to many networks over the last year just how important it is for their data to be interoperable between EHR platforms and to ensure their data is accurate. There are also new federal interoperability rules that allow patients to have better access to their personal health data which will take each network adopting technologies to make true interoperability happen. 

Automation:

As the pandemic tracks on and clinical staff is handling the flow of COVID-19 cases, they will likely continue to look for solutions that can automate manual tasks. One example would be administrative groups being able to analyze text in virtual chat boxes to automatically direct patients to the right area when explaining symptoms. 

It’s a new year but the state of the world remains the same, battling the COVID-19 pandemic. As far as healthcare data goes, healthcare professionals have a responsibility to the public to be proactive in our preparation for living through pandemics and after them. 

Here at Extract, we also feel that responsibility, and we have a solution for creating a more complete and accurate patient record for health networks.  The solution is called HealthyData. When networks receive faxed, scanned, or paper lab results or other information, our HealthyData platform delivers all relevant information on them directly to your EMR without the need for manual data entry. If you’d like to learn more, please reach out.

Sources:

https://healthtechmagazine.net/article/2020/08/what-role-will-compliance-play-interoperability

https://www.healthcareitnews.com/blog/look-back-2020-reshaping-healthcare-it-landscape

https://healthtechmagazine.net/article/2020/12/healthcare-tech-trends-2021-new-tools-watch