What makes for an efficient healthcare system? Being able to access necessary data quickly and easily is no doubt a priority. In healthcare delivery organizations, every second counts, and a few minutes of delay accessing data could be the difference between life and death.
The global healthcare industry generates enormous amounts of data—more than at any other point in human history. According to one report, the industry generates about 30% of the world’s data volume. This data is culled from various sources, including electronic health records (EHRs), lab systems, and information from wearable devices and fitness apps.
Even though it feels like we can never collect enough health data to truly understand what’s happening across our populations and with our individual health, there is real opportunity in connecting and using what we do have for healthcare innovation. It’s inefficient and expensive for users – clinicians, data scientists, administrators, and others – to have to shuffle through multiple systems to get all the information they need.
By adopting a comprehensive digital health enablement platform, healthcare organizations can integrate various health data sources and present contextually relevant, accurately matched, high-quality data to their end users.
The difference a digital health enablement platform makes
Two groups within the healthcare ecosystem are set to benefit most directly from a digital health enablement platform. They are acute and ambulatory provider organizations whose passion is to deliver efficient and effective healthcare and technology builders who are creating the healthcare systems of the future.
A digital health enablement platform enables and speeds the adoption of digital health innovation, supporting both groups in reaching their goals. It does so by integrating data among various health data sources, including disparate EHRs, data warehouses, and more, creating a comprehensive view of a person’s health and health-related information. However, simply connecting data isn’t enough. A digital health enablement platform ensures and enhances the quality of data from all these different sources. It provides a complete and accurate view of a person’s health profile, resulting in more informed decision-making, more accurate diagnoses, and better patient outcomes.
Ultimately, a digital health enablement platform significantly reduces the time and effort needed to manage health data. Improved efficiency leads to cost savings for healthcare organizations as resources are used more effectively. Besides, healthcare professionals focus more on patient care and builders on differentiation rather than tedious administrative tasks, improving the experience for all.
Benefits of a digital health enablement platform
A platform that combines integration, identity management, and clinical terminology management solutions makes it easier for new innovations to share data with EHRs. It’s a powerhouse that ensures health systems can trust the data they input from wearables, patient or clinician apps, lab systems, and more by ensuring the data is valid, relevant, and accurate. Clinicians are then able to easily access and use health data without overlooking critical, lifesaving information.
One of the biggest benefits of a digital health enablement platform is the time it saves. Instead of spending hours on integration tasks, automated processes ensure all your data is accurate and consistent across systems without the need for manual work. Plus, bringing on new customers and datasets becomes quicker and more efficient, allowing health tech companies to expand smoothly and effortlessly.
By streamlining data processes and reducing the need for multiple systems, healthcare organizations cut down on operational costs. This efficiency not only saves money but also makes the system more sustainable. In addition, faster implementation and adoption of new technologies mean that healthcare organizations can quickly introduce innovative solutions, stay ahead of the competition, and better meet their community’s needs.
Must-haves for an effective digital health enablement platform
The following composable solutions are essential for an effective digital health enablement platform:
Integration
Seamless information exchange between systems is crucial for interoperability. Effective integration allows the platform to unify various health data sources so that information can move effortlessly between them. End users should be able to access exhaustive, up-to-date information in real time.
A great example of this is West Virginia University Health System, which, during a period of mergers and acquisitions, leveraged Rhapsody integration solutions to reduce interface development time by over 50%. This efficiency ensures clinicians have immediate access to critical patient data, improving care delivery.
Identity management
Maintaining accurate and consistent person records is essential for all health organizations. Identity management solutions ensure this accuracy by correctly matching and consolidating person information from various data sources. This way, issues such as duplicate records or misidentification are avoided, and providers trust the data integrity.
Geisinger Health, one of the country’s largest integrated health services organizations, successfully implemented Rhapsody identity management to consolidate patient records across its network, improving data accuracy and reliability. They saw improved patient safety and streamlined operations with trusted, reliable health information.
Clinical terminology management
Using consistent medical terms and coding systems ensures data from different sources is accurately interpreted and used. The result? Precise insights that lead to more exact diagnoses, effective treatment plans, and overall better patient outcomes.
Zephyr AI, for instance, uses Rhapsody clinical terminology management to rapidly align diverse data sources, enabling the transition from data ingestion to production in less than 30 days. This quick turnaround allows Zephyr AI to create highly accurate AI models, improving its ability to deliver precise healthcare solutions to customers.
Real-world impact of a composable digital health enablement platform
In Montana, a state with a massive land area and small population, Big Sky Care Connect, the state’s health information exchange (HIE), uses Rhapsody to scale and grow.
The HIE integrates data from nearly every type of healthcare organization, builds interfaces, and maps data for providers and the state Medicaid agency using Rhapsody technology. In the end, Big Sky streamlines reporting to state, regional, and national bodies and sends one feed to an Epic EHR, for example, allowing for more comprehensive and efficient patient care across the state.
This means those who need it have accurate, timely, comprehensive, and trusted data. Clinicians, patients, and their families can take meaningful action to improve a person’s health and well-being.
If you’re a healthcare leader passionate about innovation, imagine the difference an integrated digital health enablement platform will make in your work: streamlined operations, increased efficiencies, time and money saved, and, most importantly, better patient care.
Ready to see how digital health enablement can transform your healthcare organization? Connect with an interoperability specialist at Rhapsody today. Get a commitment-free demo and start accelerating digital health adoption in your organization.
