The Collective Voice of Health IT, A WEDI Podcast

From WEDI's National Conference this past October in Washington DC, Civitas Networks for Health's CEO Lisa Bari hosts an engaging panel on the power of Health Information Exchanges with Nichole Sweeney, General Counsel and Chief Privacy Officer for CRISP and Elizabeth Killingsworth. General Counsel and Chief Privacy Officer for Manifest Medex.    Learn more about HIEs and Civitas Networks for Health at https://www.civitasforhealth.org/

Matthew talks about the importance of data with Epic's Phil Lindemann, VP of Business Intelligence and Dave Little, MD, Clinical Informaticist.  Epic manages electronic health records for more than 250 million patients and is now expanding clinical trials by kicking off a Life Sciences program to help speed up the development of new therapies. Providers across the world use Epic to conduct more than 100,000 active research studies with 4.7 million patients.    Additionally, they discuss the importance of companies providing data for the greater good of Americans' lives. Large data sets like Epics’ Cosmos can provide health officials with the data needed to enact changes. This allows doctors to learn from thousands of other hospitals and support researched-health needs like adverse trends in healthcare and outbreak detection.  Learn more about Epic's work below epic.com epicresearch.org epicshare.org Here’s a link to a fentanyl study referenced in the episode : Only 5% of Overdose Patients Tested for Fentanyl, #1 Killer of Americans 18-45 (epicresearch.org)

Michael chats with Durwin Day, Health Information Manager with Health Care Service Corporation (HCSC). Durwin also is a long standing member of WEDI's Board of Directors and is the co-chair of its Attachments Subworkgroup.  Durwin offers his initial thoughts on the PA and Attachments proposed rules, the role of FHIR and a glimpse into the potential discussions that will take place during his Attachments Subworkgroup meetings.  If you are a WEDI member, participation in any workgroup meeting is a benefit you should take advantage of. If you are not a member, visit wedi.org to learn more about the association. 

This episode is part of Telehealth Awareness Week, #TelehealthisHealth Michael has a fascinating conversation with Cloud DX CEO Robert Kaul. Cloud DX is working on developing healthcare within the relatively new and mysterious metaverse, which consists of virtual and augmented reality experiences that we haven't even begun to scrap the surface of. Additionally, the two discuss the role of remote patient monitoring and how it can improve access to care for the chronically ill and those living in rural regions. 

WEDI is a proud partner for Telehealth Awareness Week #TelehealthisHealth To commemorate Telehealth Awareness Week, Matthew sits down with Robin Farmanfarmaian, a professional speaker and healthcare entrepreneur working with cutting-edge Artificial Intelligence Software, Device and Pharma companies poised to impact 100M patients. Within these companies, she focuses on strategy, business development, revenue and fundraising. Robin's latest book, "How AI can Democratize Healthcare; Shifting Care from the Clinic to the Point of the Patient", is available this month at https://democratizinghealthcare.ai/ . Learn more about Robin at https://www.robinff.com/ Matthew and Robin discuss the trend in healthcare away from in-person care to at-home delivery, behavioral health, virtual therapeutics and remote patient monitoring. 

This episode is sponsored by MCG. MCG artificial intelligence and technology solutions, infused with this objective clinical expertise, enable hospitals, health plans, TPAs, and government agencies to prioritize and simplify their workflow.  Matthew chats with Zack Kimble, Staff Data Scientist for MCG Health about various levels of artificial intelligence that MCG is working on, including machine learning and natural language processing. How is AI aiding healthcare in prioritizing utilization reviews, support appropriate level of care, determine appropriate clinical documentation and so much more. 

This episode is sponsored by Avaneer Health Matthew discusses data liquidity and the need for improve healthcare efficiency with Avaneer Health Chief Commercial Officer Ray Jebsen.  In 2019, Avaneer Health was founded by a consortium of top industry leaders on a mission to unlock the full potential of healthcare by improving transparency and enhancing interoperability. The consortium included Aetna, a CVS Health company; Anthem; Cleveland Clinic; Health Care Service Corporation, a Mutual Legal Reserve Company (HCSC); The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc.; and Sentara Healthcare. Incorporated in 2020 as the Health Utility Network, they are now known as Avaneer Health. With continuing support from their partners and the biggest players across the healthcare space, Avaneer aims to play a key role in transforming how the healthcare industry operates to address consumers' needs more efficiently and effectively Learn more at https://avaneerhealth.com/

Matthew welcomes Heather McComas, Director, Administrative Simplification Initiatives and Tyler Scheid, Senior Policy Analyst with the American Medical Association to discuss findings from the AMA's recent prior authorization survey. Heather and Tyler address the AMA's advocacy on AMA, the survey results and more.  Helpful links: Prior Authorization and Utilization Management Principles: https://www.ama-assn.org/system/files/principles-with-signatory-page-for-slsc.pdf Consensus Statement on Improving the PA Process: https://edhub.ama-assn.org/data/multimedia/10.1001ama.2018.0080supp1.pdf 2021 AMA Prior Authorization Physician Survey- Wave 1: https://www.ama-assn.org/system/files/prior-authorization-survey.pdf 2021 AMA Prior Authorization Physician Survey- Measuring Progress in Improving PA: https://www.ama-assn.org/system/files/prior-authorization-reform-progress-update.pdf

The National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics (NCVHS) Standards Subcommittee held a Listening Session June 9 on Standardization of Information for Burden Reduction and Post-Pandemic America “Convergence 2.0.” The Subcommittee conducted three panels: (i) Advance HIPAA Standards Adoption; (ii) Address Standards Integration and Collaboration; and (iii) Measure the Value of Standards. WEDI Board Chair Nancy Spector represented WEDI on the first panel and joins Matthew this week to discuss more about WEDI's suggestions on when electronic standards should be adopted by the industry

The National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics (NCVHS) Standards Subcommittee held a Listening Session June 9 on Standardization of Information for Burden Reduction and Post-Pandemic America “Convergence 2.0.” The Subcommittee conducted three panels: (i) Advance HIPAA Standards Adoption; (ii) Address Standards Integration and Collaboration; and (iii) Measure the Value of Standards. WEDI Board Chair-Elect Ed Hafner (Assistant VP of Payer Strategy, Medical Network, Change Healthcare) represented WEDI on the third panel. Matthew chats with Ed on his participation at the listening session and the future of healthcare standards.