EMBRACING A NEW ERA OF INFORMATION SHARING

Creating connected healthcare

THE OPPORTUNITY

The continuum of care is not yet complete.

Despite recent healthcare reforms and unprecedented investment in health IT, the healthcare system remains highly fragmented and disconnected. Much information remains trapped in paper and what information has been digitized remains in silos, disconnected from other providers within the healthcare ecosystem. The healthcare system is anything but.

This challenge highlights the need for a complete transformation in healthcareone that is integrated across the entire continuum of care and can offer a more sustainable health system. Integrated healthcare delivery relies on a key enabler CONNECTED HEALTHCARE.

DIGITIZE. CONNECT. IMPROVE

THE VISION

If EMS and healthcare communities are truly connected, information can be easily accessed and shared, encouraging communication and collaboration among all stakeholders involved in a patients health and, ultimately, improving patient care and outcomes.
The vision for connected healthcare is simpleall parts of the healthcare system are seamlessly integrated through interoperable processes and technology, and critical health information is available when and where it is needed. However, realizing this vision remains a challenge.

This is due in large part to a major missing link in the continuum of care: the connection between prehospital healthcare (EMS)where medicine is practiced in the field and the broader healthcare system, particularly hospitals and physicians. For example, EMS does not know the outcome of their patients after delivering them to the hospital, leaving many unanswered questions. Was the best protocol administered given the emergency rooms actual diagnosis? Is EMS taking patients to hospitals that provide the best outcomes? Do paramedics need further training to improve final patient outcomes for a particular illness or injury? Because data isnt shared between EMS and hospitals, these and many other questions cannot be easily answered.
By creating a data exchange with hospitals, EMS can leverage patient outcome data to employ meaningful quality improvement initiatives.

There are several reasons why such a gap exists between EMS and hospitals:
PAPER-BASED SYSTEMS Many pre-hospital providers still use paper to record medical procedures in the field. SPORADIC INTEGRATION Pre-hospital providers and hospitals speak different languages, NEMSIS XL and HL7 respectively. SILOED DATA Information is not routinely shared within the pre-hospital community, much less between EMS and hospitals.

DIGITIZE. CONNECT. IMPROVE

THE PLAN

Creating connected healthcare. When systems of care are aligned, information is interconnected, care becomes collaborative, and knowledge is shared.
Optimal patient care requires providers to be interconnected across the full continuum of health needs. Truly connected systems of care in turn require pre-hospital care, hospitals, home care agencies, physicians, and other providers to be clinically aligned. And the key to clinical alignment is an integrated electronic health record that serves the entire healthcare system.
By creating a data exchange with hospitals, EMS can leverage patient outcome data to employ meaningful quality improvement initiatives

INFORMATION IS INTERCONNECTED Much of EMS patient data is trapped in paper and very little is interconnected to the greater healthcare ecosystem. Digitizing, and thus unlocking, patient records will allow caregivers access to life-saving information when and where its needed.

CARE IS COLLABORATIVE The integration of pre-hospital, hospital, and post hospital patient data can inform clinical decision making, improving hand-offs and overall patient care throughout the entire care continuum.

KNOWLEDGE IS SHARED Once information is unlocked, data can be shared throughout the healthcare ecosystem and decoded so that caregivers can evaluate outcomes and identify areas for improvement as well as find and replicate best practices in their healthcare systems.

In order to reach this next level of care, EMS and hospitals must take steps to knock down current barriers of communication and embrace a new era of information sharing.

DIGITIZE. CONNECT. IMPROVE

THE SOLUTION

Digitizing records is the foundation.

Information is the lifeline of healthcareit's critical to saving lives and preventing medical errors. Yet vital medical, clinical and patient information is currently fragmented, making it difficult for EMS providers to share data across the healthcare ecosystem. EMS' first step is to digitize patient care records. This creates the foundation from which information is easily and securely stored, analyzed and shared, and allows the EMS community to connect with other healthcare providers. Putting detailed patient information at the fingertips of healthcare professionals across the care continuum can be a daunting and difficult task. EMS providers can better address this task by breaking it down into three discrete projects: Unlock information from the shackles of paper with electronic patient care record software Properly secure information to ensure patient privacy Make information readily available any time, at any point of care

Connecting creates the continuum of care.

Exchanging health information between EMS and hospital clinicians, across health information exchanges, and within administrative groups facilitates better collaboration among all healthcare providers, creating a true continuum of care. When information is exchanged: EMS has access to valuable outcome information and patient demographic data. Outcome data fuels comprehensive quality management Leveraging hospital patient demographic data improves billing

Hospitals are able to view the EMS patient care record from directly within their EMR. Better clinical data at the point of patient ER transfer Pre-hospital patient data for registry reporting (trauma, STEMI, stroke etc.)

Sharing knowledge improves care.

Today, EMS agencies rely solely on their own data for quality management initiatives. By sharing data with hospitals and health information exchanges, EMS is able to follow patient results all the way through the care continuum and can also benchmark their data against other agencies within a local, state, regional or national area. These new-found sources of data enable EMS to create robust quality management programs based on actual patient outcome data and compare their performance across the industry. This visibility into the continuum of care is vital to improving end-toend patient care.

DIGITIZE. CONNECT. IMPROVE

In Summary
The healthcare industry is at a crossroads. To move forward, there are a number of critical issues that must be addressed. The healthcare system isnt a true system its mostly manual, fragmented, and unstable. Information is trapped in paper, and very little is interconnected to the rest of the healthcare ecosystem. And we are experiencing an unsustainable spiral of costs, coupled with rapidly shrinking resources. These challenges highlight the need for an interconnected healthcare system. Before there can be a true continuum of care, there must be a continuum of information. Once the pre-hospital industry is fully connected to hospitals and the greater healthcare ecosystem, information will be available when and where it is needed and care will become more collaborative along the continuum of care, ultimately improving patient outcomes. EMS can follow these three steps to help create connected healthcare: 1. Digitize patient records, laying the foundation for sharing data.

Before there can be a true continuum of care, there must be a continuum of information.

2. Connect to hospitals and their healthcare communities, creating a bridge for data to flow between providers.

3. Improve patient care, community health, and cost of care by leveraging these new found sources of data.

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