The Annual Conference of the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) was held in Las Vegas from February 29th to March 4th. This year saw a large crowd with upwards of fifty thousand attendees. The theme of the conference was the changing landscape of Health Care IT. Here are the main trends in Health Care IT:
Big Data and Interoperability:
The compilation of an accurate and complete electronic healthcare record has been a focus of the industry for many years. Compilation of data from a variety of physical locations and technical systems needs to occur for the caregiver to provide the best level of care available. Wearables and mobile technology are providing yet more data that needs to be compiled into the EHR.
The Health Care IT industry has started offering tools to analyze this data and apply analytical methods, statistical models, and cognitive technologies to empower caregivers with a 360-degree view of patient information, healthcare data, and knowledge. This is achieved through data integration platforms that enable the exchange and sharing of health-related data—leading to greater precision in disease treatment and overall health outcomes.
Mobile health:
Many major healthcare providers are tapping into the consumer's dependency on mobile device usage to encourage them to use wearables to track their fitness and linked mobile apps for sending reminders and follow-ups. These apps also incorporate home diagnostic tests that have the potential to save a trip to a doctor's office. Mobile health is all about connecting fitness trackers to insurance providers, some of which also give people credits and reimbursements for taking better care of themselves.
Privacy and Security:
The future of healthcare is personal, noted Thomas Goetz, Iodine CEO and former executive editor of WIRED. Mobile and virtual technology in healthcare are empowering patients. While patients use healthcare systems passively, wearables and smart devices create behavioral data. Such patient-generated data is not validated or integrated with the rest of the existing information. Healthcare data is sensitive, and we need to better secure it, especially with increasing data theft and hacking incidents.
Pay for Value – Bringing Payment, Performance, and Care Coordination Together:
One distinct significant trend is the pay-for-value models that healthcare organizations have started adopting. It makes teams communicate better for coordination, resulting in less duplication of tests, better care, and reduced costs. It includes customer feedback about the quality of health care they received, leading to compensation and rewards for the healthcare organization. This model even targets caring for Population Health through their coordination and exchange of information. The challenge, however, lies in having proper infrastructure and standardized business processes to support this, but if it is done well, it can lead to better health for many people.
Telehealth :
The era of virtual care is here and going strong, as seen by the steady growth in telehealth service providers. Once patients are aware of telehealth, they are more likely to adopt it due to convenience. It has helped to make healthcare more accessible, especially with smartphones. While telehealth has replaced conventional doctor visits in some cases, in others, it has helped improve patient engagement. Telehealth has even given rise to 'empathologists' who follow up with patients through video conferencing between visits.
Personal view for businesses:
There is no denying the nature of business has been redefined by digital technologies touching all aspects of our lives. Video calling to check up on a patient and using a holistic picture of the patient through various data sources will become the norm. There is a shift in the perspective of patients being reactive and using systems only as needed. They are now taking a more proactive role in their well-being through smart devices. At the crux of it is adapting quickly, providing agile solutions to meet patient's needs, and incorporating behavioral data for better decision-making.
As Payton Manning put it, the three significant challenges leaders face are managing new environments, communication, and what to do to resume business as usual quickly. Great leaders can balance these three challenges. Every organization needs to experiment with new ways to compete and win. Ask yourself if you're ready to mothball the old ways of thinking. These lessons will undoubtedly be valuable to keep up with the changing landscape of the healthcare IT world.
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