healthcare technology

In this seventh installment in Healthcare IT News' feature series, Health IT Lessons Learned During the COVID-19 Era, A CIO, a CMIO and two IT directors offer readers what they've discovered since the pandemic response has reshaped health system priorities. They share what they've learned during the past year and discuss how they're applying these lessons to improve their organizations.

 

The increased importance of data and analytics

Overall, the COVID-19 pandemic has catapulted the importance of data analytics and data in general,  For example, the data analytics team at Sanford Health designed an algorithm to sort and pull relevant data from the records of more than 100,000 patients who had been diagnosed with COVID-19, identifying those at highest risk of complications from the virus.

 

More, more, more patient engagement

For Averill of St. Luke's Regional Healthcare System, the impact of patient engagement using patient portal communication, virtual visits and digital appointment-scheduling provided a big lesson.

They also expanded the amount of clinical information sent in real time to the portal since delivering in-person results wasn't possible.

 

When telehealth is not up to par

One major lesson Helio Health learned last year was that its telehealth presence was not up to par. On the other hand, the health system also learned that its teams could implement a telehealth presence fairly quickly. They had to pivot quickly to be certain their patients' critical care would not be interrupted by restrictions put in place as a result of COVID-19

 

Leveraging technology to further strategy

Rollins of Freeman Health System said 2020 was a great year for health IT for many reasons. Many important initiatives were pushed forward and implemented in attempts to react to the ever-changing needs of our customers.

 

Keeping strategies dynamic

Another lesson Rollins has learned over the past year is that health IT and organizational strategies must leave room to adapt to the environment.

 

Streamlined and efficient decision-making

On another front, the pandemic has underscored the importance of having a structured mechanism and system in place for streamlined and efficient decision-making,

 

Standardized processes and equipment

Another lesson Helio Health has learned is the need for standardization of equipment and processes,.

"The vast majority of our computers were desktop PCs," he noted. "With a grant from the FCC, we were able to standardize our outpatient facilities with Microsoft laptops, which allow us to work and provide support from anywhere. Users are able to come and go, from remote work to in-person work, easily. With a recent merger between Helio Health and two other organizations, much of the hardware from the other organizations was dissimilar to Helio Health's standards.

 

read the details at https://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/it-execs-talk-new-strategies-analytics-patient-engagement-telehealth-and-more

 

As data and analytics are increasingly leveraged in various aspects of the healthcare system, some companies are  making use of such capabilities to help clinicians make the best decisions for patients.

 

One such company is naviHealth.  Based in Brentwood, Tennessee, naviHealth provides both payers and providers with post-acute care management expertise. Its nH Predict tool allows clinicians to better predict a patient’s outcomes in order to craft a personalized post-acute care plan.

 

Using NaviHealths nH Predict tool, clinicians are better able to predict a patient's outcomes and generate a personalized post-acute care plan.

 

The result of the tool is a simple outcome report that is generated at the beginning of the patient’s stay in a facility or hospital. The report breaks down the patient’s basic information as well as how they’re doing in a variety of categories.

 

For instance, nH Predict outlines the individual’s gender, date of birth and admission date. It also includes their primary diagnostic group (such as COPD) and their usual living setting (like at home alone or in an assisted living facility).

 

Finally, the outcome report provides a score for a few of the patient’s functions based on the data of similar patients. It gives a score on the patient’s basic mobility (such as wheelchair skills or ability to take the stairs); daily activity (like bathing and dressing); and applied cognition (including memory and communication).

 

Additionally, the report creates a total average score for the patient based on their mobility, activity and cognition scores.

 

read the complete story at https://medcitynews.com/2018/10/navihealth-data-patient-outcomes/

 

Microsoft Excel is like the swiss army knife for health analytics. It's a familiar and effective tool for surfacing and using almost any type of data from any sources. Learn how health organizations are using Excel as part of their overall BI strategy.