Posts Tagged: data conversions

Healthcare Data Management: Interoperability, Portability, and Accessibility Challenges

Posted May 28, 2020 by Beth Osborne & filed under Healthcare.

Healthcare data management is complex, and not something most organizations have the expertise or bandwidth to handle on their own. Most stakeholders understand the opportunities of leveraging such an asset but aren’t sure how. They struggle with interoperability, portability, and accessibility. The healthcare system is ripe with challenges that leave many entities unable to use their data for the greater good optimally.

So, what are the biggest challenges and possibilities? As a healthcare data management company with over two decades of experience, we’re happy to share our ideas.

Interoperability Remains at an Impasse

The healthcare community at large, and its regulators, are certainly trying to make headway here. The new interoperability and information blocking rule from HHS tackles this head-on. The focus of the new rules is to allow patients more access to their medical records. The rules also express the need to eliminate information blocking. However, the enforceability of this is still up in the air.

We’ve seen lots of interoperability issues in our years of working on over 27,000 data management projects. Moving PHI isn’t a straightforward process. There have been many efforts to drive standardization in EHRs, mostly through FHIR (Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources), which should “simplify implementation without sacrificing information integrity).

However, there are different versions of FHIR so that systems could be technically “standardizing,” but there’s still incompatibility. Additional inconsistencies include EHRs not using all available FHIR APIs. The interoperability rule does address the need for FHIR APIs to improve data sharing. Most EHRs have adopted FHIR, but the new interoperability rule moves to make FHIR Release 4 the standard.

What’s the biggest roadblock? Health information systems aren’t “open.” They are designed to integrate, like many SaaS platforms. Healthcare data, it’s just different.

Portability Isn’t Easy

In many cases, a business can quickly move databases around. For example, if you move to new CRM software, you’ll migrate your customer data to a new platform. It’s usually not a heavy lift—maybe a little light data cleaning or purging.

Unfortunately, in healthcare data management, portability is a huge pain point. You can’t just move to a new EHR or decision support system by copying and pasting. It requires a data conversion to make sure the information is securely sent, and that field matching is as accurate as possible.

Beyond moving from one software to another, many healthcare organizations also need the capability to data share across their different systems. Again, not an easy road, even for IT experts. What typically occurs is that systems don’t sync, and implementations that don’t launch on time.

Access to Data Shouldn’t Be a Roadblock

The third concern that you may be dealing with in healthcare data management is accessibility. Can you access your data when and how you need it? While you may have no issues with reviewing and analyzing data in your current EHR or pharmacy system, what about legacy records?

Often, organizations will keep a legacy system running to store their old records. Storage is necessary to comply with medical record retention requirements, but using an old system is not the best user experience. It’s hard to find what you need, and you’re paying every month to retain access.

The easiest answer to universal, compliant, and easy accessibility is data archiving. Choosing a web-based system that allows you to store documents, data, and images ensures regulatory adherence while boosting ease of use and reducing costs.

Healthcare Data Management Made Easy with InfoWerks

Our goal is to promote interoperability, portability, and accessibility for every area of the healthcare ecosystem. Our experience and healthcare-centric approach to data management have made us the choice for thousands of organizations. Get in touch today to see how we can help.

Data Conversions: What Healthcare Needs to Know

Posted May 26, 2020 by Beth Osborne & filed under Healthcare.

Data conversions are a fundamental part of any software migration. Healthcare entities often change health information systems (HIS) for a variety of reasons. When they move, they need to bring their data to the new system. But data conversion in healthcare can be complex. Here’s what every healthcare entity needs to know.

What Is a Healthcare Data Conversion?

The healthcare industry relies on HIS platforms to improve the efficiency and quality of care for patients. They are also necessary for meeting guidelines and reporting. These platforms can include EHRs, eMARs, pharmacy systems, and a variety of other healthcare-associated applications. Moving your data from one system to the next requires a thorough and customized process. It’s not copying a database and pasting it into the new system.

A healthcare data conversion requires:

Accurate field matching
The ability to find all places where data resides
Collecting structured and unstructured data
Usage of robust QA processes to ensure accuracy
Adherence to all security and privacy rules

8 Things to Know Before You Convert Data

There are several critical things that every healthcare organization should know about data conversions.

Field Matching

Every HIS is different in the way that it treats data fields. There is rarely a one to one match, especially in the case of nonstandard fields. Further, you may have fields that aren’t being used for their intended purpose (i.e., using a driver’s license field for an email address).

This can cause problems if you aren’t working with a specialized team intimate with how these systems hold data.

Mismanaging Responsibilities

At the onset of a data conversion project, the roles and responsibilities should be clear. It’s a group effort between your healthcare data management partner, software vendors, and your organization.

For example, your existing software provider will likely have to grant access to your current records for a pull. Then, the data conversion company cleans, formats, and matches the data to be sent to the new application. This “test” data would need to be verified for accuracy by you and your new software team.

Ditching Junk Data

Junk data is prevalent in most HIS platforms. Junk data describes a set of information that is unlinked or not active. Getting read of stale data with a purge is recommended; however, keep in mind that most organizations must keep patient records for a certain amount of time to be compliant with retention requirements.

Incomplete Requirements

As you work toward migrating your data, all parties must be on the same page. In many cases, requirements align with assumptions, not facts. Assumptions can be dangerous! Plan ahead for data structure disparity by having a data conversion partner that understands the intricacies.

Nailing Down Timelines

Your goal is to meet your go-live date. This could be in jeopardy if requirements are incomplete or responsibilities aren’t clear. To ensure timelines are reasonable and meetable, communication with all stakeholders is crucial.

Identifying Cross-Object Dependencies from the Start

Cross-object dependencies describe fields that are dependent and in different areas. Challenges occur when fields aren’t attached to a patient or attachments are no longer valid. This often occurs with insurance cards.

Addressing Improperly Entered Fields

Fields like addresses, phone numbers, and dates may have a standard format. If the information has been entered outside of this, you’ll need to notify your conversion team.

Converting Images

In many data migrations, there are images. Image conversions are different from data ones and require extra steps. Be sure you are working with a provider that understands these differences and has a solution. You may also want to consider archiving certain images, especially if they are not relevant to your current patients.

Pain-Free Data Conversion from InfoWerks

We’re proud to say we’ve completed over 27,000 data projects for the healthcare industry. We offer a customized approach that’s platform agnostic. We make the journey of a data conversion pain-free! Explore more reasons why you should choose us for your data conversion.

Are Virtual Go-Lives the Future? The New Horizon of Healthcare Software Implementations

Posted May 13, 2020 by Beth Osborne & filed under Healthcare, Pharmacy.

Implementing new software in your healthcare organization is no easy task. There are many hours of work and preparation that go into an implementation. We know this because we play the role of data liaison between software vendors and end-users. We convert the data from one system to another and clean and archive it, all so organizations can complete their healthcare software implementations.

Typically, in these projects, software teams actually go on-site to the hospital, pharmacy, or other entity. The coronavirus pandemic, however, has made this mostly unfeasible. Thus far, we’ve seen many go-lives pushed out to accommodate for having the software provider on-premise. With such uncertainty about travel, it’s in our entire industry’s best interest to start facilitating virtual implementations.

Top EHR Companies Show Virtual Healthcare Software Implementations Are Possible

An interesting story on virtual implementations came out this week, showing that the approach is possible. Macon Community Hospital, a community hospital in rural Tennessee, determined it needed to migrate to a fully integrated digital system and worked with EHR leader Cerner to do this remotely.

The need for the software upgrade was high, as the hospital helps fight the COVID-19 outbreak. What the new system brings to the hospital is global COVID-19 updates and the ability to more easily share information about the virus with the provider’s CommunityWorks delivery model.

The work on converting began before the pandemic but was not completed. The hospital had two choices: risk an unknown delay of this mission-critical software or work out a way to do it virtually. The hospital and Cerner were able to work out an ideal process that allowed for testing, training, and full implementation remotely.

New Healthcare Challenges Boost Demand for Better Software

As in the example above, the hospital needed to change to a new EHR so they could improve care and understand trends related to the coronavirus. They aren’t alone. Hospitals, healthcare systems, pharmacists, and other providers are realizing their EHRs or software platforms are not robust enough to fit their needs.

Add on top of that, the new HHS interoperability rule that defines new requirements for data sharing and patient access, and it’s evident these implementations should be a priority. They can’t stay on hold indefinitely, as the world awaits a reopening. The truth is, virtual healthcare software go-lives make a lot of sense, pandemic or not.

Virtual Implementations Make Fiscal Sense, Too

Obviously, the most critical objective of a virtual go-live is to keep all personnel safe. However, they also deliver fiscal benefits. Consider the travel costs that can be eliminated from budgets!

The key things need for a virtual implementation come down to technology platforms that allow for secure testing and training. Virtual could also provide greater flexibility on training with specific modules directed at different users.

As most EHRs and pharmacy software solutions live in the cloud, there are no on-site servers that need configuring.

While there are considerations about data security and HIPAA regulations, healthcare software vendors and their partners like us, already have all the necessary pieces in place to ensure compliance and data privacy.

Virtual Go-Lives Should be the Future?

The world has shown that being locked down doesn’t mean business stops. We’ve seen a variety of applications that have seamlessly transitioned to virtual. So why not software implementations? Could this be the future for healthcare? What do you think?