HIMSS19 Spotlight: Tackling Physician Burnout, CRM Innovation, and Care Transformation

February 11–15, the 2019 HIMSS Global Conference & Exhibition (hereinafter referred to as HIMSS19) was held in Orlando, Florida, USA. As one of the most influential large-scale exhibitions in the global healthcare information technology industry, it attracted 45,000 attendees from over 90 countries worldwide, including healthcare IT professionals, clinicians, healthcare administrators, government policymakers, and corporate representatives.

During this week-long industry extravaganza, attendees will share the latest products, educational resources, and networking opportunities while gaining insights from world-class experts. At this conference, the following six healthcare themes will take center stage. VCBeat (WeChat ID: vcbeat) reporters have compiled and translated them for readers’ reference:

Physician burnout is not a new issue. A 2019 medical study found that 44% of U.S. physicians suffer from burnout, making it one of the most pressing challenges currently facing the healthcare sector. As physicians grapple with professional distress, soaring turnover rates, and declining quality of patient care, medical errors are becoming increasingly common.

The root causes of physician burnout are difficult to pinpoint, but Dr. Chris Lewis, Physician Executive at the health information technology company Cerner, categorizes these causes into four main areas: autonomy, communication capabilities, physician engagement, and physician expectations. As rates of physician burnout rise, healthcare organizations need to prioritize mental health resources while providing flexible EHR training to enhance physician satisfaction.

To effectively address physician burnout, healthcare institutions must first establish workflows that are functional, reliable, practical, convenient, enjoyable, and meaningful. Furthermore, addressing this industry-wide challenge requires collaboration among healthcare providers.

At the HIMSS19 conference, health information and technology professionals will engage with clinicians on how to better adapt to their care delivery workflows to achieve a more personalized and intuitive experience.

In the coming period, consumerism—where individuals make purchasing decisions based on information such as healthcare costs and quality—will continue to prevail. As people pay more out-of-pocket for medical expenses, they will persist in seeking effective ways to manage these costs. A growing number of consumers are demanding seamless interaction among healthcare providers, including price transparency for services and prescriptions.

With the advancement of emerging technologies such as virtual reality, augmented reality, artificial intelligence, and customer relationship management (CRM) systems, nursing delivery is shifting toward a more personalized, convenient, and effective experience. The industry is also encouraging consumers to collaborate with their physicians, gradually empowering them to take greater responsibility for their own primary healthcare and nursing care. As medical care transitions from physical spaces to digital ecosystems, the industry is being redefined. These changes enable healthcare providers to better understand consumers and meet patients’ needs.

At the HIMSS19 conference, healthcare information technology company Cerner and cloud computing company Salesforce will provide healthcare professionals with a clinically informed, enterprise-grade customer relationship management system that can help healthcare organizations understand, engage with, and manage the health status of their consumer populations.

Since its inception in late 2011 and release in 2014, the Health Level Seven International (HL7) Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources® (FHIR) standard has pioneered the provision of tools for developers and software engineers to facilitate the integration of applications into the healthcare ecosystem, thereby further enhancing the care capabilities of the global clinical community.

HL7 reached a significant milestone earlier this year when it released FHIR Release 4 (or R4).

R4 represents the first normative version of the HL7 framework, expected to improve complete access to patient records and support a broader suite of applications in the foreseeable future.

As methods of healthcare delivery continue to evolve, patient-centered care is increasingly reliant on the ability to aggregate medical data across networks. In the ongoing transition toward value-driven systems, care providers are seeking innovative technologies and applications to support evolving care models. Open-code platforms, such as the Cerner Open Developer Experience, enable applications to integrate into the broader health ecosystem, thereby fostering innovation in healthcare delivery through these standards.

The HIMSS19 conference will seek meaningful dialogue and collaboration among healthcare providers, IT vendors, and third-party application developers. Although R4 has taken an important step in the right direction toward achieving interoperability, flexibility, and efficiency, its momentum will not stop there—HL7 FHIR Release 5 (R5) is expected to be released in the third quarter of 2020.

Public health agencies at the federal, state, and local levels have long relied on clinical, operational, and financial solutions grounded in healthcare provider research and policy support. Today, these government entities must streamline healthcare system operations and reduce costs while maintaining high-quality services.

As leaders work together to modernize the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Electronic Health Record (EHR) system and improve healthcare conditions for veterans and military personnel, active-duty service members and veterans are expected to receive seamless care through a single, longitudinal health record.

In addition, other priorities in the U.S. healthcare sector include behavioral health, the opioid crisis, and chronic diseases. Improving conditions in these areas requires the U.S. healthcare system to optimize workflows and integrate technologies for aggregating health information records across the entire ecosystem.

The HIMSS19 conference provided healthcare technology experts with an opportunity to engage with government agencies at all levels on building smart, secure solutions to help improve healthcare conditions for the unique populations in the United States.

Interoperability and the ability to share and exchange critical information among healthcare providers are key and fundamental elements of successful care coordination. This has been long desired and needed by the industry for years.

This shared mission is the driving force behind collaboration and innovation in the healthcare sector. Fortunately, some companies in the industry have already taken action in this regard. In August 2018, Jitin Asnaani, Executive Director of CommonWell Health Alliance, an interoperability solutions company, provided updates on the interconnection between CommonWell and Carequality and shared the following details:

CommonWell meets all Carequality requirements and is ready for deployment.

Cerner and Greenway Health were among the initial providers to connect, enabling the company to validate and benchmark the performance of the CommonWell–Carequality connection.

The initial rollout of the CommonWell–Carequality connection proceeded smoothly. In the first two months, healthcare providers supporting CommonWell and those enabled by Carequality bidirectionally exchanged more than 78,000 documents.

At the HIMSS19 conference, Asnaani and Dave Cassel, Vice President of Carequality, will jointly deliver a presentation titled “Making Interoperability in U.S. Healthcare a Reality,” highlighting the importance of the CommonWell–Carequality connection. Through collaborative efforts, partners will be able to exchange patient data from any healthcare organization across care settings, thereby advancing patient care.

Systems and structures for delivering health and care to people vary worldwide. However, the provision of high-quality care across settings is a universal aspiration. The HIMSS19 conference provided an opportunity for global collaboration and the sharing of best practices, while also contributing reference information for the development of new solutions.

In the global market, the boundaries between clinical acute care, primary care, community care, and social care are increasingly blurring. Seamless interoperability across different systems, along with data aggregation and standardization, provides critical insights that serve four key objectives: improving care outcomes, reducing care costs, and enhancing the experiences of both consumers and care providers.

At the HIMSS19 conference, healthcare industry leaders from more than 90 countries around the world will come together to build relationships across geographical boundaries and drive the realization of smarter care and better health outcomes.

Editor’s Note: VCBeat (WeChat ID: vcbeat) reporters will bring you the latest news from the HIMSS19 conference as it happens.

(Compiled by Cheng Xiaoqin)