Siloed technology and data create a big health system pain point

Photo: Erik Isakson/Getty Images

Healthcare executives need to address technology and data silos in their organizations, and none have confidence in facing the issue, according to findings by KLAS from its sixth annual Digital Health Investment Symposium. Providers told KLAS that a lack of true interoperability and poor integration and scalability of disparate point solutions exacerbate staff burnout and contribute to problems with training and retaining talent.

Workforce and digital health solutions go hand-in-hand, according to Niel Oscarson, director of strategy and research for KLAS.

"There's a clear problem when it comes to staffing today," Oscarson said. "That staff line item has just been growing because of contingent staff. They're saying, 'How can we reduce that staffing line item?' The solution is often, 'Let's just throw a bunch of money at it.' That's not viable anymore. It's too expensive."

WHY THIS MATTERS

Hospitals have addressed the problem by paying more for staff, he said, but now CFOs are looking for solutions that make a greater impact, such as how to predict inpatient volume, or load, to make more effective staffing decisions. 

"They're thinking about using analytics for more optimal flow in a facility and to predict the load of health systems, to improve workflows," Oscarson said. "I recently talked to a healthcare professional from a large system. Their goal, the real value, is predicting the load that's coming to staff appropriately."

That's difficult to do, he said, but technology can bring together data around weather and other factors to effectively predict load. Oscarson said he's met with a few executives about RTLS, real-time location services. These are basically tags on assets, to know where they are at all times. 

"Now I'm hearing from healthcare systems, if my patients and nurses are all tagged, then I have these workflows that are automated. They know when the exam room is empty."

It's using predictive analytics to optimize the use of the facility. Hospitals can predict the load of an operating room or infusion bed weeks ahead of time to optimize efficiency. Patients can be directed to find their own exam rooms. "The whole system can become more efficient," Oscarson said.

Executives are also looking at using remote nursing to do work such as charting. Clearly most nursing functions have to happen in the hospital, but there are some nurses who would desire the flexibility of being able to work part-time from home.

"It's definitely a flexibility piece," Oscarson said. But what Oscarson is hearing most from executives is the desire for the consolidation of software solutions.

"I hear all the time: scheduling, credentialing, having less relationships to manage." This entails more than using the EHR for clinical information. It involves revenue cycle and operations. Players in these spaces include symplr, QGenda, PerfectServe, RLDatix and HealthStream.

KLAS is in the middle of researching these operations for a paper to be published in August, Oscarson said.

THE LARGER TREND

KLAS provides transparency to hospital systems as they make healthcare buying decisions. 

"We'll have 30,000 conversations," Oscarson said. "I'll have hundreds of conversations a year about technology: Where is their investment focus? Most of my conversations are with a heavy dose of CMIOs, CMOs, and COOs and CFOs. CFOs are interested in cash flow, AR, days on hand. From my perspective they're looking at really big line items."

The KLAS report, released last month, said nearly all hospitals are feeling the pain of staffing shortages. 

Another reported challenge is patient experience, but nearly 30% said this is a challenge they felt confident tackling. Specifically, they felt confident in patient outreach, engagement, messaging and creating a seamless experience. No one identified the patient experience as an area where challenges are going unaddressed. 

Respondents also voiced confidence in their ability to address workforce management pain points. They felt confident addressing challenges with staffing and capacity management in the short term, including by using automation, but said there is a need for additional help developing long-term strategies for acquiring, training and retaining talent. 

Twitter: @SusanJMorse
Email the writer: SMorse@himss.org