Total Health Connections — Using Data To Seamlessly Integrate Employee Healthcare

Fragmented healthcare can result from a number of data exchange issues, including:

• Data sharing or interoperability
  Incomplete information or an inability to combine data sources – also called “data silos” – can impact a doctor’s view of their patient’s health. Patients may receive care from multiple doctors, hospitals, or specialists, and incompatible records systems may limit information sharing between practices.
  
  
• Information transfer issues
  Even with the availability of electronic software platforms, a large percentage of medical information is still stored using paper filing systems. Records are often transferred by mail, fax, or by patients themselves.
  
  
• Privacy restrictions
  Federal privacy laws around protected health information (PHI) are in place to safeguard patients, but can prevent data integration and hinder the exchange of helpful medical information.

A recent study showed that patients want their information to be shared among their doctors and health facilities. The majority of those surveyed also felt it was important to prioritize secure data exchanges among healthcare providers, and many want greater control over their own health information.

Innovative health leaders like Anthem have recognized these needs and are changing how data is shared. Through partnerships facilitating the exchange of secure, two-way health information, they’re taking steps to streamline administrative processes and enhance patient support. For example, data will be connected bi-directionally with 95 health systems by the end of 2022 and Anthem looks to continue to grow that in the coming years to be able to share data across all lines of business, for all members, with all our providers.

Health OS is a digital platform helping to untangle complex healthcare processes. It brings together care stakeholders, patients’ health data, and best-in-class solutions to enable more informed, data-driven provider decision-making and provider insights. In addition, Health OS simplifies and enhances the patient experience, streamlines administrative tasks, and facilitates a more successful transition to value-based care.

Doctors can now utilize this advanced platform to see real-time patient information across care providers. Prior authorizations, previously done by phone or fax, can be completed electronically. Doctors can also receive immediate notifications about important events such as hospital discharges, care gaps, or medication adherence concerns, in addition to seeing information about members such as benefits data that can be leveraged by providers, as needed.

These types of improvements in data integration and authorization processes, along with other data such as benefits information, allow health insurers to quickly make decisions, freeing doctors to spend more time on their patients’ care.

Integration Leads To Actionable Insights

To support this smarter, more coordinated, and more personalized model of care, health insurers should first build an enterprise-wide infrastructure to integrate data from different sources. By connecting doctors, patients, employers, and third-party point solutions, benefits companies can create a seamless, single source of truth across the health ecosystem.

With this infrastructure in place, insurers can do more than pay claims, build networks, and underwrite plans — they can provide powerful data analytics that guides better care decisions. Companies like Anthem are embracing this transformation, using its vast reserves of clinical health data and information mined from billions of claims to deliver real-time, actionable insights to providers. 

By securely leveraging one of the industry’s largest data sets — including the data of 200 million members and more than 10 billion medical records — Anthem is turning integrated data into powerful insights, creating health solutions that are more predictive, proactive, and personalized. Anthem’s Total Health Connections clinical model, for example, uses advanced algorithms, artificial intelligence (AI), and third-party data integration to predict health risks and deliver tailored interventions. The result is care delivery that is simpler, more intuitive, guided, and personalized to every individual’s needs.

The Future Of Connected Data

Care delivery will continually transform as healthcare data integration improves. These advancements are important for the health of your workforce and based on the type of benefits offered to your employees, they could also impact your bottom line.

When doctors and insurers work together using connected, real-time information, they can prioritize whole-person care. This can help reduce costs and drive savings, boost health outcomes, and improve overall employee productivity and satisfaction.