Electronic health records is the primary solution available, but others are available that can promote the quality of care being provided, HHS suggests. That claim is true. The unfortunate part is that we seem to be in the midst of a drought related to the use of solutions that enable secure exchange, storage and secure sharing of patient health information and interaction with patients. Technologies exist to open these communication lines between providers, specialists and even patients, and they allow providers to connect and share information across multiple settings and in a variety of forms.
As we continue to move in a new electronic, connected direction in the dental space, we’ll find that of the opportunities needing to be capitalized upon, many help link practices to networks for patient care that can lead to improved quality and administrative pursuits. By linking and having information available to practices through their systems, we’ll see better uses of patient information and the ability to manage practices more fluidly and efficiently. Not only will dental professionals be better able to ensure that patients receive needed oral health, but practices will become more adept at processing claims and improve revenue cycle management.
A connected dental care system is in reach and is achievable now, and IT can easily provide platforms that enable providers to communicate with his or her patients, but there’s so much more going on now that can enrich all parties, particularly practices and their invested parties.
For those that are concerned about opening up their practices to data exploitation and breach, it’s worth mentioning that breaches come in a variety of forms. Not all hacks are the result of criminals breaking into a set of records using the Internet and online tools. A breach can be classified as a loss of a patient record, something as simple as a practice staff member losing a paper chart, laptop or other device that contains patient data.
Also, physical information can be compromised in more traditional ways, wreaking havoc on practices. Disasters like floods, fires, tornados, hurricanes and other devastations are well documented – with stories about complete loss of patient records because of Katrina and the deadly storms that ravaged Joplin, Missouri in 2011. Such acts of God are difficult to recover from. Practices with one source of patient record risk losing everything in these cases.
In a less dramatic point of view, the revenue cycle impact of 20th century approaches – like paper-based approaches — is often too cumbersome to manage effectively. The printing collating and shipping of claims can be crippling for any practice overcome. Even as the electronic patient record consumes much of the industry’s current attention, there are other systems at play that can couple with the health record technology and really make a practice sing. By utilizing secure cloud storage solutions, for example, practices are able to easily keep all of their information “off the floor” of their practice in a safe storage container that’s available to them any time and from anywhere.
Thus, the information, which can be anything from patient records, flow charts, practices invoices, patient bills, vendor notes, contracts, marketing material and other collateral, can be backed up securely and protected from natural or other disaster. The information also is searchable and sendable, and can then be drawn from the cloud and shared securely in a HIPAA compliant manner through the use of electronic attachment and other sharing solutions.
Typically used to transfer claims and supporting materials to payers for the adjudication process, the electronic attachment solutions are evolving so that they are more like information exchange portals where information is sent from source to source — from provider to specialist or from provider to payer, for example.
However, even as risk of breach remains a strong fear, organizational leaders are seeing the importance of the cloud and mobile storage solutions as a way to protect their data from physical loss. The move to the cloud is supported by the fact that if health information is stored remotely in a secure and protected manner there’s no need for the transfer or collection of data on laptops, portal hard drives or other mobile and physical devices.
Organizations can’t rely on a single approach to security nor can they expect that they’ll always be in control of their data. However, just because data is “on-site” doesn’t make it safer and just because it’s in the cloud doesn’t make it more vulnerable to breach. Though this little fact won’t bring the headlines to a halt nor will it help protect data in any way, this insight may help health leaders realize there are alternative approaches or solutions to where data can be kept and how it is secured and managed.
While the data needed to power a practice is off-site, at the same time the data is secure, in the event of a catastrophe. Also, these records can be loaded or attached and sent as required to support claim verification and adjudication at the request of payers, in some cases.
A connected health system assumes one thing: Common sense suggests that the practices in question are actually connected to the web and are making efforts there to grow their businesses. This concern is valid in relation to this conversation, and the one being led by HHS, because an overwhelming number of small practices simply have no Internet presence whatsoever. This fact exacerbates the challenge of using an electronic health record even greater whereas they may be limiting their ability to engage patients via an online portal, let alone hindering their ability to communicate with patients through a business website.
This is an issue that cannot be minimalized or overlooked when speaking about connecting care systems. Practices without a web presence face steep challenges for growth in the current economy. This alone is probably a single more important issue than whether or not a practice implements electronic records or connects to the cloud to store or exchange information.
Without this foundational tool — something as basic as a website — there’s probably little reason to discuss larger issues related to care outcomes, practice advancement or the connected practice.
Lindy Benton is CEO of MEA|NEA (National Electronic Attachment), a provider of electronic attachment, health information exchange and healthcare cloud storage solutions for hospitals, health systems and medical practices.