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360-Degree Patient View in Healthcare & Why it is Important

Updated: Jun 27


Data is the cornerstone of modern patient care, and the significance of a unified patient information view cannot be overstated. btpicon recognizes this imperative need and delivers 360-Degree Patient View projects for our clients, ensuring an uninterrupted and proficient patient care experience.


The Imperative of a 360-Degree Patient View

A 360-Degree Patient View stands as the pivotal element for integrating diverse health records, offering an all-encompassing perspective on a patient’s medical trajectory. This unification is essential for providing individualized care, elevating health outcomes, and optimizing operational workflows.


Through a Unified Patient Record Index (UPRI), we empower healthcare organizations to transform data into practical insights, fostering superior patient outcomes and operational distinction. Some benefits of a Unified Patient Record Index can be summarized as:


Continuity of Care

A UPR ensures seamless continuity of care for patients. When a patient moves between different healthcare providers or settings (such as hospitals, clinics, or specialists), having a unified record ensures that their medical history travels with them.


Imagine a scenario where a patient visits their primary care physician for a chronic condition. The physician can access the patient’s complete medical history, including past diagnoses, medications, allergies, and test results. This information allows the physician to make informed decisions about treatment options.


Without a UPRI, patients might face fragmented care. Each provider would have only partial information, leading to potential gaps in understanding the patient’s health status. This could result in unnecessary tests, conflicting treatments, or even medication errors.


Care Coordination

A UPRI promotes better coordination among healthcare professionals. When multiple specialists are involved in a patient’s care (e.g., cardiologists, endocrinologists, and mental health providers), having a shared record ensures they are all on the same page.


For instance, consider a patient with diabetes who also experiences anxiety. With a UPRI, the endocrinologist can see that the patient is taking an antidepressant. This information helps avoid prescribing medications that might interact negatively.


Improved care coordination reduces redundant tests, minimizes delays in treatment, and enhances patient safety.


Efficient Decision Making

Having a comprehensive UPRI at the point of care streamlines decision-making. When a patient presents with symptoms, the healthcare provider can quickly access relevant information.


For example, a cardiologist evaluating chest pain can immediately review the patient’s history of heart disease, prior cardiac procedures, and current medications. This enables faster diagnosis and appropriate treatment planning.


Efficient decision-making leads to better patient outcomes and reduces the risk of missed opportunities for timely interventions.


Cost Savings

A UPRI contributes to cost savings for both patients and healthcare organizations. Here’s how:


  • Avoiding Redundant Tests: When providers have access to a patient’s complete medical history, they can avoid repeating tests unnecessarily. For instance, if a patient recently had an MRI, the next specialist can review those results rather than ordering a duplicate scan.

  • Reducing Unnecessary Procedures: With accurate information, providers can avoid unnecessary procedures or surgeries. This not only saves costs but also minimizes patient discomfort.


  • Preventing Duplicate Prescriptions: A UPRI helps prevent duplicate prescriptions. If a patient’s medication list is up-to-date, providers can avoid prescribing medications that the patient is already taking.


  • Patients benefit from reduced out-of-pocket expenses related to unnecessary tests or consultations.


Standardization and Accountability

In universal healthcare systems, a UPRI ensures standardization across institutions. All patients have a unified record accessible beyond a single clinic or hospital.


Standardization includes consistent definitions, data formats, and terminology. This uniformity allows healthcare officials to make informed decisions based on reliable data.


Accountability is also enhanced. When everyone follows the same guidelines for recording patient information, errors are minimized, and public health outcomes improve.


Our Methodology for a UPRI Deployment

Our deployment strategy commences with the thorough amalgamation of data from a spectrum of health information systems, encompassing electronic health records, health exchange records, determinants of social health, and customer management frameworks to name a few. We accommodate data in a multitude of formats, including XML, flat files, APIs, and web services, to ensure a comprehensive and adaptable data acquisition approach.

 

Following data collection, we pinpoint crucial matching criteria and devise a bespoke data model that caters to each organization’s specific requirements. This model acts as the foundation for the data transformation initiative.

 

To guarantee exceptional data integrity, we utilize cutting-edge data analysis instruments to examine the data for irregularities and normalize it for uniformity. Subsequent to data refinement, we employ an advanced matching engine to establish a ‘Golden Record’ - a definitive, reliable source for each patient’s data.


Addressing Challenges with Proven Solutions

A common hurdle in such implementations is the management of vast and varied data volumes. Maintaining data quality and uniformity across disparate systems can be formidable.


Nonetheless, our managed services offer continuous support, managing alterations in data sources or necessary modifications in the matching algorithm.


Another obstacle is the transition of on-premise solutions to cloud infrastructures. We can facilitate this shift by migrating our entire framework to a cloud service provider, thereby augmenting the scalability and reachability of the solution.

 

Ongoing Support and Analytical Insight

Our dedication extends beyond the initial implementation. We provide managed services to ensure the solution progresses in alignment with the organization’s evolving demands.


Whether it involves integrating new data sources or enhancing the probabilistic matching engine, our team offers 24/7 support and services.

 

In addition, we offer analytical assistance to evaluate the effects of varying methodologies on the process, delivering insights into their influence on the overarching data management strategy.

 

Next Steps

At btpicon, ‘Integrate, Automate, Analyze’ encapsulates more than a mere catchphrase; it embodies our strategic methodology towards data stewardship.

 

We empower healthcare organizations to transform data into practical insights, fostering superior patient outcomes and operational distinction.


Please reach out to our team to learn more!

 

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