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.
