Value-based care is here: How health IT can help
August 07, 2018
By Nancy Pratt
Health systems across the country are advancing into a new healthcare economy that prioritizes the quality of patient visits over the quantity, and rewards providers for helping their patients live healthier lives in an evidence-based way. Gone are the days when hospitals only interacted with patients facing acute illness or a health emergency.
By encouraging health systems to link episodes of care together, value-based care will work to expose cost inefficiencies. For example, health systems are realizing that having fewer hospital beds filled may mean longer and more expensive outpatient care for a condition that could have been remedied within a few days in an inpatient setting, or prevented at home with remote monitoring technology and health coaching. Value-based care requires health systems to look beyond their four walls and continuously engage with those they serve, and achieve unprecedented visibility into cost, quality and risk across multiple settings and data sources.
While value-based care is on nearly everyone’s radar, it can be difficult to accomplish successfully. Historically, it has proved difficult to define patient care quality. Value-based care provides a new lens through which to view patient care, and lays the foundation for a future in which all stakeholders must collaborate to achieve seamless care delivery. Many healthcare leaders question how to begin their organization’s transition. However, regardless of the health system, one thing is certain: the value-based care journey starts with having timely and actionable data as we manage what we measure.
EHR’s limitations in value-based care
The drive to quality over quantity requires an understanding of the current healthcare environment. A recent survey reported that while the majority of healthcare organizations say they are prepared to change to the new payment system, half of respondents acknowledged their value-based technology infrastructure is not strong enough. In the age of value-based care, providers need to be able to accurately report patient data and monitor complex patients across multiple providers. However, the relative lack of true interoperability in healthcare means that physicians often struggle to aggregate the right patient data at the point of care.
This challenge is partially due to the mass implementation of electronic health records (EHRs) with the launch of Meaningful Use under the Affordable Care Act. This drove massive adoption of electronic order entry and enterprise EHRs, which required health systems to reorganize workflows to work with their EHR. Rather than streamlining care coordination as intended, it often left a disconnect in its wake, with inpatient and outpatient systems that do not communicate. Health systems are now typically operating under numerous different EHRs throughout their network, and patient data scattered across those EHRs. As a result, physicians may be unable to deliver quick and informed care decisions without easy access to the right patient data.
Having electronic data to extract and submit is required for participating in quality incentive programs such as MACRA or MIPS, which makes EHRs a necessary foundational tool for value-based care. While many health systems use their EHR as a starting point to help meet reporting requirements under value-based care, most surveyed executives say they need to look beyond EHRs for essential value-based care functionalities.
Taking into account the limitations of EHRs and the need to aggregate data across disparate systems, the requirements of value-based care are driving valuable technology solutions. In healthcare, where the money goes, the solutions will follow. The shift to value-based care has created a demand for interoperable solutions to support healthcare organizations that can ultimately help improve patient care.
Technology and the transition
Redefining care quality will naturally take additional time and effort. There is technology that can help unburden health systems, make administrative tasks less burdensome and more useful. Health systems can leverage mobile technology that makes it easier for clinicians to see, act and report on patient outcomes by adding these capabilities directly into the provider’s workflow. This way, organization leaders can support providers across EHR platforms and across physical locations.
Rather than continuing to operate within siloed networks, value-based care pushes the healthcare industry to advance care collaboration and break down technological barriers. It encourages a more holistic view of patient care, with the goal of creating a longitudinal patient record of all interactions with the healthcare system, as well as the patient’s engagement with their own health at home.
However, this type of visibility is only possible if physicians are empowered with the necessary tools. In addition to EHRs, technology must be purpose-built to help manage the sea of data at our disposal, with analytics functionalities to make it meaningful and actionable.
Aggregated data can translate into better-informed care teams, and ultimately, improved patient outcomes. There is technology now available that works to eliminate barriers between disparate systems, data and devices to create a more complete picture of the patient. With this unified view, physicians can focus on their patient and make the right care decisions without technology getting in the way. By requiring data to be aggregated and normalized, value-based care incentivizes the various players to collaborate and work toward true integration for smooth patient data transactions.
The time is now
The shift to value-based care is an evolutionary step for healthcare. When redefining the value of care, healthcare systems should first identify the gaps in their data and analytics. They can then employ the most suitable technology for their unique workflows to help fill those gaps and gradually improve care management for an entire population.
Value-based care ultimately aligns with patient-centric care. Technology solutions that provide visibility across systems can help physicians to make more informed care decisions, as well as minimize care inefficiencies and support the cost-efficient use of resources. A solid strategy to move to a value-based system can position providers to reap long-term benefits such as financial strength, along with improved population health.
About the author: Nancy Pratt is the chief operating officer at AirStrip
Health systems across the country are advancing into a new healthcare economy that prioritizes the quality of patient visits over the quantity, and rewards providers for helping their patients live healthier lives in an evidence-based way. Gone are the days when hospitals only interacted with patients facing acute illness or a health emergency.
By encouraging health systems to link episodes of care together, value-based care will work to expose cost inefficiencies. For example, health systems are realizing that having fewer hospital beds filled may mean longer and more expensive outpatient care for a condition that could have been remedied within a few days in an inpatient setting, or prevented at home with remote monitoring technology and health coaching. Value-based care requires health systems to look beyond their four walls and continuously engage with those they serve, and achieve unprecedented visibility into cost, quality and risk across multiple settings and data sources.
While value-based care is on nearly everyone’s radar, it can be difficult to accomplish successfully. Historically, it has proved difficult to define patient care quality. Value-based care provides a new lens through which to view patient care, and lays the foundation for a future in which all stakeholders must collaborate to achieve seamless care delivery. Many healthcare leaders question how to begin their organization’s transition. However, regardless of the health system, one thing is certain: the value-based care journey starts with having timely and actionable data as we manage what we measure.
EHR’s limitations in value-based care
The drive to quality over quantity requires an understanding of the current healthcare environment. A recent survey reported that while the majority of healthcare organizations say they are prepared to change to the new payment system, half of respondents acknowledged their value-based technology infrastructure is not strong enough. In the age of value-based care, providers need to be able to accurately report patient data and monitor complex patients across multiple providers. However, the relative lack of true interoperability in healthcare means that physicians often struggle to aggregate the right patient data at the point of care.
This challenge is partially due to the mass implementation of electronic health records (EHRs) with the launch of Meaningful Use under the Affordable Care Act. This drove massive adoption of electronic order entry and enterprise EHRs, which required health systems to reorganize workflows to work with their EHR. Rather than streamlining care coordination as intended, it often left a disconnect in its wake, with inpatient and outpatient systems that do not communicate. Health systems are now typically operating under numerous different EHRs throughout their network, and patient data scattered across those EHRs. As a result, physicians may be unable to deliver quick and informed care decisions without easy access to the right patient data.
Having electronic data to extract and submit is required for participating in quality incentive programs such as MACRA or MIPS, which makes EHRs a necessary foundational tool for value-based care. While many health systems use their EHR as a starting point to help meet reporting requirements under value-based care, most surveyed executives say they need to look beyond EHRs for essential value-based care functionalities.
Taking into account the limitations of EHRs and the need to aggregate data across disparate systems, the requirements of value-based care are driving valuable technology solutions. In healthcare, where the money goes, the solutions will follow. The shift to value-based care has created a demand for interoperable solutions to support healthcare organizations that can ultimately help improve patient care.
Technology and the transition
Redefining care quality will naturally take additional time and effort. There is technology that can help unburden health systems, make administrative tasks less burdensome and more useful. Health systems can leverage mobile technology that makes it easier for clinicians to see, act and report on patient outcomes by adding these capabilities directly into the provider’s workflow. This way, organization leaders can support providers across EHR platforms and across physical locations.
Rather than continuing to operate within siloed networks, value-based care pushes the healthcare industry to advance care collaboration and break down technological barriers. It encourages a more holistic view of patient care, with the goal of creating a longitudinal patient record of all interactions with the healthcare system, as well as the patient’s engagement with their own health at home.
However, this type of visibility is only possible if physicians are empowered with the necessary tools. In addition to EHRs, technology must be purpose-built to help manage the sea of data at our disposal, with analytics functionalities to make it meaningful and actionable.
Aggregated data can translate into better-informed care teams, and ultimately, improved patient outcomes. There is technology now available that works to eliminate barriers between disparate systems, data and devices to create a more complete picture of the patient. With this unified view, physicians can focus on their patient and make the right care decisions without technology getting in the way. By requiring data to be aggregated and normalized, value-based care incentivizes the various players to collaborate and work toward true integration for smooth patient data transactions.
The time is now
The shift to value-based care is an evolutionary step for healthcare. When redefining the value of care, healthcare systems should first identify the gaps in their data and analytics. They can then employ the most suitable technology for their unique workflows to help fill those gaps and gradually improve care management for an entire population.
Value-based care ultimately aligns with patient-centric care. Technology solutions that provide visibility across systems can help physicians to make more informed care decisions, as well as minimize care inefficiencies and support the cost-efficient use of resources. A solid strategy to move to a value-based system can position providers to reap long-term benefits such as financial strength, along with improved population health.
About the author: Nancy Pratt is the chief operating officer at AirStrip