Humana, athenahealth Partner to Assimilate Insurer Data into EHR
Health insurer Humana and health IT vendor athenahealth have entered into a multi-year agreement in which the payer will deliver member insights through athenahealth’s electronic health record (EHR).
The collaboration specifically utilizes intelligence from Humana, aiming to empower providers to proactively address patient needs within the native EHR workflows, which officials believe will facilitate care management discussions between providers and patients. As such, company leaders contend this will make it easier for providers to transition to value-based care programs, while supporting quality program performance goals such as Medicare Advantage Star Ratings.
By marrying patients’ medical records from the vendor’s EHR, athenaClinicals, with insights from their health plan data, athenahealth and Humana will aim to integrate supplemental and clinical data in real time to give providers insights that will help them spot potential time-sensitive gaps in patient care. For instance, officials offer, patients with diabetes can become overwhelmed with numerous annual appointments including blood pressure screenings, blood sugar control tests, eye exams, and medication reviews. Automatic appointment alerts generated by Humana’s data can help providers stay on top of diabetes management – thereby improving diabetic patients’ healthcare experiences and closing care gaps.
“At Humana, we constantly strive to help providers deliver better outcomes to members and enhance our providers’ healthcare experience,” said Alan Wheatley, Humana’s retail segment president. “Working closely with athenahealth allows us to improve care quality and simplify administrative processes for provider organizations.”
Company officials say this agreement augments Humana's current use of athenahealth's Real-Time Benefits Check, which helps enable Humana providers to quickly determine a patient’s prescription benefit coverage, provide their patients with accurate costs for their prescriptions at the time of prescribing, and, when appropriate, choose lower-cost treatment options. With this collaboration, providers on the athenahealth network will potentially gain access to even more real-time information to close care gaps, create alerts about upcoming preventive services, and help their patients stay on track with their health, according to officials.
“We are pleased to work with Humana as they strive to improve the quality of care delivered to their members through value-based payment models while reducing healthcare costs,” stated Bob Segert, chairman and CEO of athenahealth. “Humana is leveraging athenahealth's innovative technology to improve provider's financial health and satisfaction. With this collaboration, we will deliver consistent data-driven insights to physicians at the point of care, to help them assess the best treatment options for every patient, especially those suffering from chronic conditions. Connecting payers and providers is a vital step toward realizing our vision to create a thriving ecosystem that delivers accessible, high-quality, and sustainable healthcare for all.”
