• October 12, 2022
• By admin

Integration of Healthcare Systems with Big Data and Data Silos

With the integration of larger teams and a distributed workforce, organisational structures are evolving from having no ecosystem to catering to a diverse ecosystem. This evolution has contributed significantly to functional silos in healthcare and instilled discipline in organisations, but it has also resulted in the delivery of numerous multifaceted challenges affecting healthcare delivery services. Healthcare organisational structures are rethinking the significant drivers to improve the care delivery paradigm as the market continues to demand faster, more affordable, and better care delivery.

Despite all advancements in healthcare, incomplete patient information remains a common problem at the point of care. There are frequently multiple records and patient information lists that are not shared with providers. Even with information available through electronic health records, patient health data management remains largely siloed for better understanding. With health data management and exchange becoming so fluid, EHRs have a broader application. Before EHRs were widely adopted, the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) required the implementation of systems for their use, and there was no standardised requirement for EHRs to ensure that data could be shared amongst various EHRs.

Healthcare teams are not alone in feeling overwhelmed by the silos that exist in healthcare organisations. However, it is critical to understand how these data silos in healthcare form in order to take the necessary steps to begin breaking these data silos in order to set up the cultural transformation for more future-oriented business advantage and to build competitive strategies.

Creating Healthcare Data Silos:

Data silos can naturally form in each department, and the data is stored for its intended purpose. These data silos in healthcare are mostly built around functions that previously did not necessitate data sharing. In recent years, healthcare systems have prioritised efforts to improve interoperability between aggregated patient data and EHRs in order to provide a more complete picture. Because interoperability is in high demand, EHRs and other healthcare data vendors are following suit. Healthcare organisations are receiving the necessary assistance from the US government in processing the adoption of new healthcare data interoperability standards such as Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources or FHIR, which helps to lay the foundation for healthcare information to exchange data.

Previously, healthcare data vendors, payers, providers, and organisations faced challenges as a result of traditional systems and struggled to unify health data records. With the advancement of technology and the integration of artificial intelligence, machine learning, and cloud computing powers, it is now time for healthcare organisations to seize the opportunities to build a strong foundation for data interoperability that is consolidated, secure, easily accessible, and transparent. Analyzing a large set of data can help to break down data silos in healthcare at an affordable cost.

Making Healthcare Data Technology a Unifying Force:

Healthcare organisations are already harnessing the power of advanced technology to integrate disparate data in order to improve patient health outcomes. Healthcare payers have faced challenges in combating rising levels of cybersecurity fraud and healthcare resource waste. These organisations must make an effort to detect and reduce fraud, as well as analyse, realise, and investigate the amount of money that can be recovered.

Cost containment has reached a new revolutionary high with the recent adoption of healthcare technology. A comprehensive approach is taking shape, with pre-payment understandings at the forefront. Despite the traditional challenges of healthcare silos, organisational dynamics and stringent compliance mandates are taking over outdated healthcare data management frameworks and collaborating to create a transparent system that addresses payment and billing-related issues, resulting in massive savings and improved healthcare delivery services.

A comprehensive approach to patient data generation and collection allows health plans to centralise data in a variety of ways. It enables health plans to identify both intentional and unintentional money loss and to connect disparate claim types in order to provide appropriate prescriptive insights to patients and providers. Among these outcomes are:

Transparency is important in improving patient health outcomes:

Creating a common data reference for all healthcare stakeholders will be critical to driving the healthcare industry forward in terms of transparency, allowing providers to improve their treatment and healthcare delivery services to patients. To build a future-rich quality care delivery platform, a holistic approach catering to clinics, pharmacies, surgeons, and rehabilitation centres will simplify treatment plan recommendation and identification, improve the quality of patient-generated health data, and improve healthcare delivery. Healthcare tech startups that provide secure access to holistic health data management may create more opportunities to shift the traditional healthcare model away from fee-for-service and toward a more value-based approach.

Using healthcare data to improve accessibility:

Businesses and individuals are already benefiting from data integration in healthcare in a variety of industries. Customized solutions for integrating datasets across different platforms provide businesses and healthcare organisations with an end-to-end overview of every system they have and assist businesses in improving their operationalizing. Healthcare plans and insurance companies are taking on the task of unifying capabilities for every provider, claim data, and patient under a single unified platform that makes healthcare data easily accessible and provides insights and transparency to all stakeholders.

Meeting HIPAA and other security compliance requirements:

HIPAA privacy and security requirements are not complicated; however, data silos in healthcare can lead to costly errors that healthcare providers may not be able to afford. Healthcare providers and administrative personnel can reduce the number of employees involved in interpreting and re-entering patient data by implementing integrated solutions, essentially ensuring that patient information can be transferred from point A to point B with fewer risks. Sharing information with patients can be made easier with streamlined healthcare digital solutions, and hospitals can ensure premium data privacy and security. Compliance with HIPAA and other healthcare regulations is critical, as a breach of patient information can have far-reaching consequences for patient trust. Building loyalty is seen as a critical component in delivering better patient care and developing ethical practises for providers and healthcare members in the face of constant competition in the healthcare market.

Developing solutions that prioritise people:

Health data analytics and healthcare silos have drawbacks, but in recent years, we have begun to address these issues. Instead of forcing the adoption of new processes that disrupt daily workflows, healthcare providers require advanced technological solutions that work with them. Having the technology to learn from scratch may not be feasible or accommodating for medical staff because it requires extensive onsite training and has negligible long-term effects. Using integrated healthcare systems that collaborate with providers can help to automate workflows and eliminate redundant tasks. This can help hospitals and healthcare facilities by reducing burnout and focusing on providing quality care to patients.

Last thoughts,

The road to interoperability is long, but when taken together, every impediment to standardisation can be overcome by data spring’s current initiatives and future interoperability goals. Breaking down data silos in healthcare will take time, but with the right technology in place, any breach of privacy can be avoided through better implementation of digital health tools like EHRs and EMRs. It is critical to comprehend the concept of silos in healthcare, and interoperability in healthcare can be successfully achieved with the assistance of digital health tech companies.