As part of Streamline Health’s participation in NHIT Week, this is the fifth in a series of daily blog posts addressing the question: What is the value of healthcare IT?
The Future of Health IT
Bob Watson, President and CEO, Streamline Health
As we wrap up NHIT Week, I’d like to offer some perspective on how healthcare in America is evolving and how health IT will move it forward. Our market is undergoing unprecedented change in how we manage and pay for care, and technology will drive this transition and help us all realize its benefits. First: technology will continue to optimize the execution of care. By helping to remove administrative and operational inefficiencies, technology will streamline the processes that support and enable efficient care delivery. Everything from scheduling to final reimbursement will be refined to enhance operational and financial performance. This will reduce the costs of care delivery and increase the overall value for providers and patients alike.
Secondly, technology will assist in the advancement of care. By eliminating administrative inefficiencies and refining operations, provider organizations will be able to focus more resources on executing against their mission and pursuing their strategic vision to greater effect. Practitioners will be able to operate at the top of their license, supporting improved outcomes for healthier communities. And patients will be truly engaged, helping them become fully vested stakeholders in their own wellbeing across the continuum of care.
Lastly, technology will help evolve care delivery. Tremendous insight resides in the data currently held by provider and payer organizations. Through predictive analysis, this insight will be leveraged to recognize trends and align resources accordingly—enabling better outcomes while supporting healthier margins for providers. This same data will help evolve wellness and preventive care measures, redirecting resources to the most crucial needs. And with fewer barriers to collaboration, we could see exponential growth in clinical discovery.
A frequently discussed concept in healthcare is the Triple Aim: improving the experience of care, improving the health of populations, and reducing per capita costs of care. Through the proper application of technology, there’s no reason each of these goals cannot be achieved to support better health for all—patients, providers and communities alike.
