In the digital age of healthcare, where data flows as abundantly as patients seeking care, the ability to harness and integrate that information is becoming a cornerstone of innovation.
At Chicago-based Rush University System for Health, the key to unlocking smarter, more personalized patient care lies within the data itself. Anil Saldanha, Rush's chief innovation officer, revealed how the organization is transforming mountains of clinical data into actionable insights through Epic's data warehouse and cutting-edge tools. During a podcast recorded at the 9th Annual Health IT Digital Health and RCM Conference in Chicago, Mr. Saldanha shared how Rush’s forward-thinking approach to data integration is reshaping care delivery and setting a standard for the industry.
Rush has been utilizing Epic as its EHR platform for over 15 years. This long-standing relationship has enabled Rush to develop robust tools and processes for managing clinical data.
"Our Epic teams have built extensive capabilities using Epic’s data warehouse," said Mr. Saldanha. One of the key products in this effort is InnoSystems HealthConnect, which Rush uses to integrate and analyze vast amounts of clinical data effectively. But the system's needs are always changing.
"Rush embraced Epic and built a lot of expertise around that. But we're also seeing a lot of shifts in the way the industry is moving. There's a lot of consumer transitions," said Mr. Saldanha. "You're moving from an inpatient setup to a more ambulatory setup. We just had a pandemic, so there is a big push toward digital health. Technologies for remote patient monitoring, telemedicine and telehealth."
Rush is also capitalizing on Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources APIs to enhance data integration. FHIR APIs facilitate smoother interactions between different healthcare systems, enabling more efficient data exchange and interoperability. "We've seen an increasing adoption of FHIR APIs in Epic," Mr. Saldanha said.
Furthermore, Rush leverages cloud platforms like Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services to expand its data integration capabilities. These platforms offer dedicated tools for managing FHIR-based interactions, further streamlining the handling of clinical data across multiple settings.
The insights derived from integrated clinical data empower clinicians to make more informed decisions, tailor treatments to individual needs, and improve overall care delivery. The insights can also help Rush tackle big challenges and emerging trends.
"Healthcare organizations have to be on the lookout for their business needs, which is in care d delivery, but you also need to be patient-centric," said Mr. Saldanha. "The patient is at the center of everything a healthcare organization such as Rush does. We have a lot of pain points for patients in terms of access; health equity is a big strategic goal for Rush, and equity is a driving force for Rush in terms of the way we do our clinical operations across the system."
The interconnectedness offers benefits beyond internal communication as well. Rush seeks to learn from other health systems and share best practices.
"Healthcare organizations have to be open to embracing technologies, companies, startups and looking around at what other health systems around the nation are doing," said Mr. Saldanha. "You don't have to reinvent the wheel. My recommendation for systems such as Rush is, a lot of times it's easier just to partner with another health system that has solved a problem because it's easier to collaborate and compete rather than working in silos and competing. We all work, facing the same problems and challenges, so sometimes it's much easier to collaborate with other health systems that have solved particular problems."