Disparate technologies and data create a big pain point for the healthcare system

According to KLAS findings at the 6th Annual Digital Health Investment Symposium, healthcare leaders need to address technology and data storage challenges in their organizations, and no one is confident they can handle the challenge. Providers have told KLAS that the lack of real collaboration and poor integration and scalability of disparate point solutions exacerbate staff burnout and exacerbate training and talent retention problems.

According to Neil Oscarson, director of strategy and research at KLAS, human resources and digital health solutions go hand in hand.

“Today there is a clear staffing problem,” Oscarson said. “This line item has just been increased due to contingent personnel. They say, “How can we cut this staffing?” The solution is often, “Let’s just throw a lot of money at this.” This is no longer practical. It’s too expensive”.

WHY IS IT IMPORTANT

Hospitals have solved that problem by paying more for staff, he says, but CFOs are now looking for solutions that will have more impact, such as how to predict inpatient care or workload to make better staffing decisions.

“They’re thinking about using analytics to improve facility flow and predict healthcare system workloads to improve workflows,” Oscarson said. “Recently, I spoke with a healthcare professional from a major system. Their goal, the real value, is to correctly predict the workload that is placed on the staff.”

It’s hard to do, he says, but technology can combine weather and other data to effectively predict load. Oscarson said he met with several executives about RTLS, a real-time location service. It’s basically tags on assets so you always know where they are.

“Now I hear from healthcare systems that if all my patients and nurses are tagged, then I have these workflows that are automated. They know when the examination room is empty.”

It uses predictive analytics to optimize object usage. Hospitals can predict operating room or infusion bed workload weeks in advance to optimize efficiency. Patients may be asked to find their own examination rooms. “The whole system can become more efficient,” Oscarson said.

Executives are also considering using remote care for work such as scheduling. Obviously, most of the nursing duties should be performed in the hospital, but there are some nurses who would like to be able to work part-time from home.

“It’s definitely an element of flexibility,” Oscarson said. But more often than not, Oscarson hears from executives the desire to consolidate software solutions.

“I hear it all the time: planning, grading, fewer relationships to manage.” This entails more than just using the EHR to provide clinical information. It includes the income cycle and operations. Players in these areas include Sympler, QGenda, PerfectServe, RLDatix and HealthStream.

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

BIG TREND

KLAS provides transparency to hospital systems when they make purchasing decisions about healthcare.

“We will have 30,000 conversations,” Oscarson said. “I will have hundreds of conversations a year about technology: where is their investment focused? Most of my conversations are with a large number of CMOs, CMOs, COOs and CFOs. CFOs are interested in cash flow, AR, days on hand. . From my point of view, they are looking at really big positions.”

A KLAS report released last month says that almost all hospitals are understaffed.

Another reported issue is patient experience, but nearly 30% said it was an issue they feel confident with. In particular, they felt confident in working with patients, engaging, messaging, and creating a seamless experience. No one has defined the patient’s experience as an area in which problems go unaddressed.

Respondents also expressed confidence in their ability to address HR pain points. They felt confident solving short-term talent and capacity management issues, including through automation, but said they needed more help developing long-term strategies to attract, train and retain talent.

Twitter: @SusanJMorse
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