12:23 PM
A KLAS report released this week took a deep dive into how healthcare organizations perceive their electronic health record vendors role in helping them to achieve meaningful interoperability.
While all vendors have room to improve, the report found that Epic stands out as the leader, with almost all customers saying they have access to outside data. Both Epic and non-Epic customers feel the vendor’s commitment to outside sharing has grown, wrote KLAS researchers.
WHY IT MATTERS
KLAS defines deep interoperability as providers ability to have consistent access to outside data; easily locate patient records; view outside data inside their EHR workflows; and experience positive, frequent impacts on patient care.
01:56 PM
In mid-2018, ideas for redesigning Epic Systems MyChart patient portal started to gain momentum at the electronic health record giant.
One prevailing philosophy, said the team, was not overwhelming patients with information right off the bat. No matter how much power we put into it, said Trevor Berceau, product development lead at Epic, it needs to be easy for patients to use.
The redesign began rolling out earlier this year, with the first customer taking it live in August. Since then, we ve seen the floodgates open, said Sean Bina, vice president of access and patient experience at the company.
03:50 PM
Epic this past week released statistics showing that health systems using its interoperability platform Care Everywhere had shared more than 221 million patient records in a one-month period this fall.
The jump, said the electronic health records giant, represents a nearly 40% increase from the same period the year before.
Dave Fuhrmann, senior vice president of interoperability at Epic, said the growth reflects the desire for mobility and increasing demand for healthcare services amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. With COVID-19, we got to see some of the value of that [interoperability] work at Epic, he said. Particularly as patients sought telehealth treatment, providers having the ability to access records made treatment more seamless and efficient.