From data gathering to actionable insights

Continuing its EHR-as-helper philosophy, Allscripts is leveraging data and decision support systems to help clinicians and patients make better, more informed decisions. This includes increasing utilization of clinical decision support (CDS) systems at the point of care (POC), and using predictive analytics and population health management (PHM) to influence and improve diagnostic decisions and treatment planning.

The healthcare industry is now at a tipping point—nearly complete adoption of EHRs across hospitals and ambulatory practices collecting troves of clinical data. If we are to deliver on the promise of health information technology (heath IT) to improve health care, we must remain on the cutting edge and utilize this data and the tools that leverage this wealth of data.

Using advanced technology, Allscripts is employing decision support to achieve the goals of healthcare’s Quadruple Aim: Enhance patient experience and improve population health outcomes while simultaneously reducing cost and promoting clinician well-being.

The last mile

We’ve made countless and immeasurable advancements in medicine over the last decade, but we have not conquered what we call that last mile of care: The information and care provided directly to the patient. That step requires attention and monitoring of all aspects of patient care: Diagnosis, treatment planning, quality of care, patient safety, patient satisfaction, and follow-up care. The process and complexities of prescribing medications requires an even higher level of diligence when considering the potential for allergies, interactions with other medications, and selection of optimal medication for the patient’s history and condition. And it is worth noting that precision medicine—a burgeoning field that leverages patient genomic information—helps clinicians make even more informed diagnoses and personalized treatment plans.

As healthcare data continues to become digitized, we want to ensure that technology helps patients participate in the diagnostic process and thus become better stewards of their own care. Patient engagement solutions, such as wellness alerts that provide reminders about taking medications, keeping follow-up appointments or ongoing care, and help keep patients engaged and aligned with their care team. The key lies within incorporating CDS in that last mile of care. That’s where healthcare matters the most and where transformation in healthcare can occur. This is where we see the greatest opportunity to advance decision support as a true assistant for clinicians and patients to improve care and reduce burden.

Using data analytics to drive decision support

Insights derived from population health data must be made actionable and available to patients and clinicians to positively impact care. Identifying high-risk populations and elevating their care benefits both the health of the individual and overall population while simultaneously reducing costs.

It is imperative that we use population health data in more proactive ways, especially when dealing with high-risk populations. For example, using population health data, decision support solutions can ensure that diabetics within the patient population receive reminders to ensure medication adherence, blood sugar monitoring, completion of diagnostic tests, and appointment follow-up. Through the coordinated use of individual and community data, analytics tools, and point-of-care assistance, improvements can be achieved with patient engagement, clinician experience, and health outcomes.

Medication formularies and price transparency tools also provide decision support, which improves the patient experience and reduces clinician burden. This is especially important as health care pivots to value-based payment, and patients are responsible for an ever-increasing portion of their healthcare expenses.

CDS systems are also important in assisting with the appropriate use of diagnostic tests and treatment regimens. Not only does this improve health outcomes and reduce the risk of patient harm, but it also assists with delivering more cost-effective care.

Ensuring access through the helper philosophy

Decision support systems may be accessed in a variety of ways: By the clinician through the EHR; by the patient through a patient-facing portal; or through an app that complements both.

Maintaining a helper mentality helps ensure that decision support will be there when you need it. And now that patients across generations are more technologically savvy, the consumer component is critically important. Patients not only want immediate mobile access to their healthcare information at all times, but they also expect the interface to be seamless, intuitive, and user-friendly.

CDS can help clinicians come up with more timely and precise treatment recommendations and can help patients make better-informed decisions. Beyond clinical outcomes, CDS systems reduce cost by improving efficiency and effectiveness of the diagnostic process while simultaneously reducing the burden of that process, improving both patient experience and clinician well-being.

Into the future

Looking ahead, we must remember that not all data is good data. As we continue gathering more and more data, technology will be even more important to glean actionable insights to improve healthcare. Predictive analytics, machine learning, and artificial intelligence have the potential to identify previously unseen insights, to improve health for patients and populations.

Clinicians and patients have a wealth of health data. It is our responsibility to use decision support to convert this information to actionable insights for use by clinicians in partnership with patients, to improve their health and well-being.