The global pandemic is teaching us some invaluable lessons. As we recently heard in a discussion with Julie Fowler Smith, Banner Health, and Rakesh Mathew, Sogeti, they’ve taken stock of those lessons and are now navigating a smarter way forward.

2021 has been a year of tremendous change in the healthcare industry. Providers are working to enable digital transformation, and networks face challenges like complex care delivery, significant delays, and backlogs caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Tesla was not an overnight success. Founded in 2003, the company struggled mightily during its early years. In 2019, Elon Musk reported that Tesla would be out of money in 10 months.

Referral management can be a powerful tool for health providers to track their patient referrals throughout the care continuum. Providers can maximize the potential of their referral management tools by referring to in-network providers, but the potential of these tools remains largely untapped.

Pull out your healthcare IT crystal ball. What do you see?

To improve health outcomes, payer organizations need to organize, maintain, and effectively use provider data to enhance care management and delivery—and effectively comply with ongoing healthcare regulations. Mandates such as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act [PPACA] are driving payer organizations to build and implement more efficient provider network systems.

The dynamic world of regulatory changes is ever-evolving. Most recently, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued the Interoperability and Patient Access final rule (CMS 9115-F) in March 2020, with enforcement of the Patient Access and Provider Directory API requirements beginning July 1, 2021. The Interoperability and Patient Access final rule, when implemented effectively, has the potential to change the way healthcare organizations operate. With increased access to information on their health status and healthcare opportunities, members will be empowered to manage their healthcare journeys.

The COVID-19 pandemic made healthcare data management difficult and overwhelmed existing IT infrastructure. Making data accessible in desired formats—after sourcing, refining, and transforming—adds more load to the infrastructure. To mitigate these challenges, CIOs need to take a fresh approach to data management, whether that’s through an on-premises storage system, the cloud, or a hybrid model.

As a leading healthcare cloud platform, Innovaccer drives healthcare efficiency through its Platform-as-a-Service and Software-as-a-Service solutions. Innovaccer’s InNote is an efficient digital collaboration and communication tool for physicians.

InCare is the Innovaccer’s robust care management and coordination solution that helps care teams simplify redundant tasks, bridge care and coding gaps, improve patient engagement and deliver better care outcomes.