Today’s EHRs are more than just patient records. They are powerful and intelligent decision-making tools that clinicians rely on daily to make the best decisions for their patients and their healthcare organizations. But what makes an EHR intelligent?
I recently had the chance to moderate a webinar for the American College of Health Data Management (ACHDM), where I sat down with three esteemed healthcare leaders and ACHDM fellows to answer this question. It was enlightening to see that while each panelist focused on different initiatives, their overall goals were aligned. They all wanted access to timely, meaningful, and actionable data to reduce clinician burden while improving patient care.
The panel featured three MEDITECH Expanse customers who may already be familiar to many due to their efforts in spearheading innovation at their respective organizations. Their leadership led to their fellowship in the ACHDM, where they now have the opportunity to share their insights with other thought leaders in the industry. The panelists included:
Dr. Kristin Conley, CMIO at Frederick Health
Many of us are familiar with Dr. Conley for her efforts in integrating genomics into the clinician workflow at Frederick Health. Dr. Conley shared her experience in using genetic data alongside oncology registry data to identify patients for clinical trials. She also highlighted a common challenge in the industry related to the progress of the CCD and the need for more discrete and actionable sharing of patient information that is less burdensome for clinicians. In addition, she spoke about her progress in implementing ambient listening through the Nuance DAX Copilot solution and how it has improved both face-to-face patient interaction and the accuracy and quality of her documentation.
Daisy Rodriguez, COO of Humboldt Park Health
Daisy Rodriguez is dedicated to promoting health equity in her Chicago community. Humboldt Park Health recently achieved The Joint Commission’s Health Equity certification, making it the 13th organization in the nation to do so. Daisy emphasized her organization’s commitment to conducting social determinants of health screenings for every outpatient visit and inpatient stay. She envisions a future where this data can be shared discreetly among community partners, aligning with the latest USCDI standards that now include SDOH. Daisy also discussed how her organization and their partners use patient-facing apps like FindHelp.org to assist patients confronted with transportation, housing, and food insecurities and the goal of integrating this data into the EHR.
Additionally, she highlighted the use of patient registries, particularly the diabetes registry, which helps monitor patients across care settings and identify root causes for non-compliance within specific patient cohorts based on race, ethnicity, age, gender, language, or education.
Randall Brandt, PA-C, AI lead at Mile Bluff Medical Center
Randy Brandt has been sharing his success in the AI industry at various events such as MUSE, HIMSS, the Scottsdale Institute, and with publications like Healthcare IT News and Health Data Management. He discussed the Expanse search and summarization solution powered by Google Health and how it helps to surface meaningful data for clinicians. Randy also discussed the use of machine learning in the condition and problem list functionality to generate a comprehensive problem list for clinicians, including relevant information such as lab results and related medications. As a fellow in the ACHDM, Randy has already shared many of his strategies within the fellow community.
Additionally, Randy shared his success in using patient registries and MEDITECH’s Opioid Stewardship toolkit to monitor patients’ morphine milligram equivalents. This registry helps in tracking details such as last dose screening and pain management agreement, allowing for follow-up with patients and aiming to reduce their dependence on opioids.
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There is much to be learned from each other, and even our panelists learned something from one another along the way. However, if there is one phrase that captures the theme of this webinar, it is Dr. Conley who reminded me of an expression I once shared with her: "We need to move beyond information to intelligence."
I encourage you to sign up to watch the full webinar with our three fellow panelists and reach out to us if you are interested in a fellowship in the American College of Health Data Management.
Learn more about Traverse Exchange, MEDITECH’s new national data exchange network.
