The Institute for Health Technology Transformation has released a report on how healthcare providers can use technology to improve the quality of their care.
The report, “Population Health Management: A Roadmap for Provider-Based Automation in a New Era of Healthcare” lays out plans for providers to transition from fee-for-service payment to accountable care. Health care providers will have to automate many tasks and identify gaps in care and managing risks and health care in general.
"In the era of healthcare reform, provider organizations must change their traditional approach and embrace new ways of thinking about their mission," said Waco Hoover, CEO of the Institute for Health Technology Transformation. "They must not only care for the sick, but also strive to keep their patient populations healthy. Information technology is the key to doing this cost efficiently, and automation can enable care teams to identify and work with the patients who truly need their help."
Report author Dr. Paul Grundy, Global Director of Healthcare Transformation at IBM and President of Patient-Centered Primary Care Collaborative, said that automation is the key to successful medical care in the future. "Patient-centered medical homes based on primary care are the building blocks of accountable care, and information technology is the key to successful medical homes,” he said. “With the help of registries, electronic health records, health information exchanges and other tools for care coordination and automation, healthcare providers can manage their populations effectively and keep their patients as healthy as possible."
Dr. Richard Hodach, Chief Medical Officer of Phytel and chair of the research committee of the report, said the research highlights the importance of automating healthcare. "By using technology to identify subpopulations and patients who are at risk, to reach out to those patients, and to automate care management, healthcare providers can provide optimal preventive and chronic care to their patient populations.”
For Dr. Hodach, automation also means a greater role for patients in providing their own care. “Providers can also use technology to engage patients in their own care, which is the real key to lowering costs and improving population health. We are proud of our participation in this project and we hope that the report will be helpful to providers who plan to move in this direction."
Edited by
Braden Becker
