⚕️Acing Clinical Data Integration

Good Morning! Digital health funding is seeing a rebound with a sustained momentum in first half of 2024. Artificial intelligence remains an area of high interest, with 34% of funding going to digital health startups specializing in AI.

DEEP DIVE
6 Best Practices For Seamless Clinical Data Integration

• According to a recent report by Deloitte, in the forthcoming years, the healthcare landscape will be dominated by preventive and wellness approaches, interoperable data, and consumer-driven initiatives.

• McKinsey reported that digital and data capabilities are honing the future of healthcare, ameliorating care delivery.

Clinical data integration refers to the collection of information from various medical departments, third-party vendors, and payers, and to enable seamless data exchange.

An integrated healthcare organization has the power to improve the quality of care and streamline workflows. Here are 6 best practices to ensure clinical data integration within your healthcare practice. 

1. Detect Data Sources

2. Enable Data Privacy and Security

3. Leverage Healthcare Analytical Tools

4. Use Healthcare Data Warehousing

5. Utilize Data Lakes

6. Use APIs to Extract Data From Legacy Systems

Read the complete guide to acing clinical data integration here.

PULSE POINTS
Latest Breakthroughs This Week

Here’s the most important breakthroughs and advancements we spotted in the healthcare technology space this week.

• Ambient Documentation: Mass General Brigham is expanding its ambient documentation program to 800 clinicians following a successful trial with 20 clinicians from various specialties. During the trial, clinicians used a smartphone-based app to record patient conversations securely. The system's accuracy was confirmed as 90% of its draft content was included in the clinicians' final notes.

• Informatics Integration: NYU Langone Health has created a centralized informatics department within its IT division to leverage emerging technologies like generative AI. This department supports clinical care, research, and education. They have pioneered the use of a patient health data-safe OpenAI GPT-4 platform, hosted an AI "prompt-a-thon," and established unified oversight of these technologies, serving as a model for other health systems.

• AI in EHR: Carle Health is enhancing its Epic EHR system with Nabla, an AI-based ambient assistant. After a successful pilot in family medicine, pediatrics, and cardiology, which saved clinicians significant time, Carle plans to expand Nabla's use to 1,500 providers, including emergency rooms and hospitalists, throughout 2024.

• ChatGPT for Healthcare: Stanford Health is introducing new AI tools, including "Patients Like Mine," which provides data-informed care for diverse populations, and ChatRWD, which is in beta testing. ChatRWD generates de novo studies to answer clinical questions, rather than summarizing existing literature, enhancing its relevance and applicability for clinicians. The tool has been particularly useful when evidence is lacking, and plans are underway to deploy it for bedside use.

• Patient Data Sharing: Major U.S. healthcare websites were found using online trackers, exposing patient data like dates of birth and Social Security numbers to companies such as Meta and Adobe. Despite efforts to protect data, privacy concerns persist amid regulatory challenges. Legal actions against healthcare firms highlight growing scrutiny and some have started removing trackers, but questions remain about data collection practices and transparency.

• Speaking of Data Sharing, The HHS has proposed a new rule, titled "Health Data, Technology, and Interoperability," aimed at enhancing healthcare data sharing among providers, public health agencies, and payers. It introduces standards for health IT systems to facilitate seamless data exchange, including APIs, to improve transparency and support value-based care. The rule mandates adoption of U.S. core data for interoperability by 2028, enabling tools like real-time prescription benefit comparisons. It also addresses privacy concerns with new protections and updates information exchange frameworks under the 21st Century Cures Act.

EXPERT SPOTLIGHT
Michael Ciano: Building Trust In Healthcare Technology

This week, HealthTech Zen got in touch with Michael Ciano, a CTO with 20+ years of experience in HealthTech.

How do you see the role of technology evolving in patient care over the next decade?

Patient Care is seeking greater insight and ease of access to high quality healthcare. Patients seek transparency into appropriateness of care, quality and costs while being enabled to make informed decisions, have availability of care at the right time and right cost, and personalized experience to their individual needs.

These needs of patients and an increased need for greater mental health access and insights are enabled through product and technology by building solutions which are data driven, AI enabled, and offer personalization however are best realized with a emphasis on building trust early and often in a patients journey.

Trust is the key to success in leveraging technology solutions which offer multi-modality access and the ability to the patient to determine how and where they want to be met.

How do you foster a culture of innovation within your technology teams?

Building a team of talented, engaged and innovative experts I believe begins with an organizational culture where leaders and team members are valued and feel apart of a mission where each individual is respected, has a voice, can color outside of the lines and together have a bit of humor to offset the business demands and timelines.

In my opinion, titles, roles and responsibilities can be blurred when you are seeking to develop new and innovative products or redesign legacy solutions by leveraging select aspects of Agile processes to engage differently beyond traditional ceremonial processes. Engaging cross-functional team members offers new ideas, approaches and pathways to innovative outcomes while most importantly building relationships beyond organizational structures.

Which emerging technologies do you believe will have the greatest impact on healthcare in the near future?

I believe a digital first approach to healthcare with emphasis on building trust early and often will have the greatest impact on healthcare and must be rooted on a robust business and data architecture with AI enablement.

Building a robust business architecture can best be achieved by breaking down “operate” and “innovate” requirements, mapping to available marketplace products (broad and niche) and developing deep integration across core elements of the architecture and the development of a proprietary intelligence layer driving innovative actions such personalization, enablement of next best actions of advocacy and clinical teams, and content on member and provider apps/portals.

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DECODER
What Is A Specialty Specific EHR?

A specialty-specific EHR is tailored to the needs and workflows of specific medical specialties or disciplines. Unlike general-purpose EHR systems that cater to a wide range of healthcare providers, specialty-specific EHRs are designed to accommodate the unique clinical practices, terminology, and documentation requirements of particular specialties.

For example, an EHR designed for cardiology would include templates and features specific to cardiology diagnostics, procedures, and treatments, such as ECG readings, stress tests, and medication management relevant to heart conditions. Similarly, an EHR for dermatology would focus on dermatological assessments, skin condition imaging, and treatment plans specific to dermatological practice.

These specialty-specific EHRs aim to improve efficiency, accuracy, and relevance of clinical documentation and management within their respective medical fields, enhancing overall care delivery and outcomes for patients.

Here are 6 compelling reasons to choose a specialty specific EHR for your practice.