Hospitals and health systems are gathering more data than ever, but not everyone will trust the data right away.
It takes sharp strategy and conscientious communication to affect change based on cost and quality metrics.
At the 5th Annual Health IT + Revenue Cycle Conference in Chicago, Andras Sablauer, MD, PhD, CMIO and chief of imaging informatics at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis; Arturo Loaiza-Bonilla, MD, chief of medical oncology and medical director of research at the Cancer Treatment Centers of America, based in Boca Raton, Fla.; Elizabeth Kirk, senior vice president of client services at Strata Decision Technology; and Mark Newman, MD, executive vice president of health affairs at UK HealthCare in Lexington, Ky., discussed how health IT can be a differentiator for hospitals and health systems.
The panel was held on Oct. 10 and moderated by Vice President of Editorial and Editor-in-Chief of Becker's Hospital Review Molly Gamble.
Key trends from the panel include:
1. Obtaining accurate cost data per physician can make a big difference in aligning providers. If you can gather precise cost data and show it to the high cost physician, they can make better informed decisions about delivering services and performing procedures. In some cases, surgeons have no idea that they are the high cost provider and are willing to speak with peers and make changes.
2. When you first bring data, especially cost data, in front of physicians it can be like a firing squad where they shoot holes in whatever data you bring them. However, as your data gets more sophisticated, you can present a stronger argument to engage physicians about providing high-quality, value-based care. The sophisticated data becomes the differentiator for many organizations.
3. When cost and quality data is trustworthy enough, organizations can enter into gain sharing arrangements where all stakeholders are responsible for providing excellent outcomes. Gain sharing arrangements can engage physicians in leadership roles that go beyond traditional partnerships and employment.
4. Be strategic about how you gather and share information. One panelist likened sharing information to squeezing toothpaste out of the tube; it's challenging to get back in. If you share information that you believe is accurate and open the floodgates to let everyone see it, there will be a barrage of questions and likely detect inaccuracies in the data.
5. When you put data in front of physicians and other leaders within your organization, request that they help you make sure it's accurate and correct. It might not be perfect right away, but executives can gain the trust of other leaders in the organization by working with them to improve the data and then strategically rolling out the information to the rest of the team.
6. It can take a significant upfront investment in technology that has the right capabilities to give hospitals and health systems the real-time information they need to improve processes and patient care. Typically, that investment can pay for itself in a couple of years. The next wave of technology will include artificial intelligence capability for decision support.
Don't miss the Becker's 3rd Annual Health IT + Clinical Leadership + Pharmacy event in Chicago, May 19-21, 2020. Click here to learn more and register.