PHI in the News

PHI in the News Part 1

OSU’s Wexner Medical Center Quicker Access to Patient Data

 

Summary: How many times have you heard that a hospital or emergency service does not have any prior information about you or someone you know? A prime example of this is when my mom was told that someone she was about to arrest was at OSU Wexner but when she followed up was told that there was no record of him being there. In fact the perpetrator was there and was deemed legally blind from his injuries escaping police. Access to patient demographics for research, billing information and patient outcome is important to expanding HIE network to other areas in the state of Ohio. OSU Wexner is piloting program that connects data from emergency services and hospitals around the state to increase the amount of data exchanged between them. This is facilitated by communication between two fire departments and emergency room staff to immediately have access to patient data upon arrival at the hospital. The location of the two fire departments is key to the need of this pilot program because one fire department is local here in Columbus Ohio and the other one is located in Grandview Heights, “ The main hospital at the OSU campus, the University Hospital East, the Columbus Division of Fire and the Grandview Heights Fire Department are so far the only facilities that have the interoperable equipment necessary for the health data exchange” (Donovan, 2019). This makes access to patient data much more swift than methods of access before because they do not have to email a request for access. The access is also able to be made in real-time. Another barrier that takes up time and limits access is patient ID codes that had to be manually entered

Assessment : Medical director of Wexner’s Center for Emergency Medical Services.
The sharing of clinical and healthcare administrative data between health care practitioners and across settings who are not part of the same organization is a technology that used for synchronous data exchange. This is the HIE model. It is not unheard of to think that emergency squad vehicles and staff are able pull up patient information in times of emergency and crisis. In the times of technological advancement that we live in two fire departments not having the same ability and equipment increase the problem of interoperability. This pilot program should prove to be successful because it limits the time spent finding vital information upon intake of a patient in the emergency room, and this engagement began July of 2019, “ The ACO and health system will be able to place work orders EMS and fire crews will execute within their scopes of practice” (Erich, 2019). Not only is the EMS system currently is being incentivized around performance measures that and information sharing feedback loops, but also EMS is being used as an agent for ACO paired with population health activities. ACO incentives links payment rewards to health outcomes to community paramedicine and mobile healthcare to the 300 EMS agencies amongst the 17-county region. To have all access to patient data by clinicians is the epitome of what a healthcare facility such as our hospital is. With this pilot program and technology patient waiting room wait times will be decreased significantly and patient history will no longer be limited to what patients tell us or their friends and family members.

 Standardized Data Exchange Across All Platforms

Summary: Did you know that every healthcare organization does not use the same healthcare information technology platform to asses and evaluate patient engagement? The absence of health care interoperability is to blame. If you have ever been a patient at a healthcare facility the way that facility engages with you, educates you and satisfies you as a patient can be dramatically different than what you may experience at another healthcare facility such as going to a different hospital. The disparity within this dramatic difference is defined as interoperability, the way a patients care is integrated into pre-existing healthcare data platforms and whether that process is free of challenges. The interactive patient experience can be enhanced with Redox’s healthcare data integration capabilities because health systems can become better equipped with the variety of tools that come along with the implementation of Redox. Enhancing usability of the interactive patient experience is the goal for pCare. pCare takes advantage of Redox data integration capabilities to enhance usability of the patient experience solution by using Redox to conform to any health systems preexisting digital resources as long as the tools included with pCare are adopted and used. This would widely serve the benefit for all patients because the partnership between pCare and Redox addresses integration for patient engagement and healthcare data. This partnership can connect previously siloed or closed systems so that patient care and data reports can be created that were never thought of to be needed before addressing the greatest operational burden for healthcare organizations.

Assessment: Medical and Health Services Manager at AAHAM (The American Association of Healthcare Administrative Management)

All patients leaving a health care facility should be confident in managing their activities but how can they do is if patients are not armed with key health information and education ? Redox and pCare partnership will impact health systems create customized treatment regimens, for example, create educational letters that inform patients on how to initiate the conversation on their own with their providers concerning treatment options that may be available to them. Usability of patient experience platform is important for health systems to better facilitate how they educate and engage with a variety of patients because if enhanced patient literacy concerning health no matter how complex the information can be better understood. Therefore, better patient teach-back and better patient portal and data access. Enhancing usability can not only cut the costs for health systems but simultaneously improve patient outcomes once care received because a partnership like this puts the patient in the middle of their own care , well in control of care management and wellness goals. The way a patient behaves and issues that may ensue as a result from preventive care or physical activity is a broad concept that we term as ‘patient engagement’. Customizable tools to educate, engage, entertain and promote patient health outcomes will help navigate provider information such as discharge and care transitions, support health care leaders with coaching services that further develop healthcare organization data and improvement efforts. The open platform offered by pCare can even be usable on mobile devices and perhaps facilitate better communication between patients, families and caregivers creating a shared-decision making avenue for patients that could improve care outcomes, ultimately empowering the patient.

Reflection

 

The design choices of my portfolio were chosen to highlight the homepage in simplistic manner that keeps time for review as primary concern. Upon reaching the welcome page a short scroll will reveal all four part of this portfolio in a way that is not aesthetically and visually overwhelming and distracting. For example the news images were taken from the news link page itself to minimize confusion for the viewer because as the creator they were not distracting or misleading.  Such components are imperative to apply and remain consistent as this subject matter can easily get lost in translation with heavy focus on patient care and outcomes.

Through the process of creating this public health informatics portfolio I learned that specificity for public health events is key when highlighting the informatics focus for community health.  For improvement in the future a key takeaway that will remain a staple throughout my educational career in biomedical sciences is linking technology to a public health paradigm as a technological incorporation for enhancement puprposes.  Enhancement for reduction in time, usability and meaningful use are among the primary key takeaways that I had to learn to summarize and apply in all of the modules of this course.