The value of connected healthcare

Interoperability is a central topic of discussion in health IT. Achieving true healthcare interoperability is key to moving the industry forward by enabling the type of information exchange that can streamline workflows, inform clinical decision making and enable precision medicine.

However, much of the current interoperability discussion is focused on ensuring core systems (i.e. EMRs) are compatible with one another. Largely overlooked is the crucial role that integrating structured data with unstructured patient information plays in this process.

For example, EMRs are designed to capture and manage structured patient data, and they do that job well. However, they are not built to natively ingest the plethora of unstructured information that exists on a patient. This unstructured content includes things like diagnostic medical images, clinical documents and notes, visible light images and more. According to many industry estimates, as much as 80 percent of the information that exists on a patient lives outside of core applications, scattered in legacy data silos.

Manage your unstructured clinical content

In our new ebook, Why you need a connected healthcare platform, we explore just how pervasive unstructured content is in today’s health systems and how vital this content is to interoperability, clinical workflows and patient care. The ebook is written from the point of view of John, a fictional CIO of a large healthcare IDN.

Throughout the book, John discovers new silos of patient content that are disconnected from the EMR, but clinically valuable when accessible in context of the patient record.

The book illustrates how open, connected healthcare solutions such as content services and enterprise imaging technologies can help John link this unstructured information to the EMR, providing a true single source of patient content that can be shared throughout the enterprise and the entire continuum of care.

Make the connection, see your whole patient

Providing a “holistic approach” to integrating structured and unstructured healthcare content is precisely what we aim to deliver at Hyland. Our suite of connected healthcare solutions allows healthcare providers to harness the unstructured content in every corner of their enterprises — whether it be a diagnostic medical image, clinical document, video file or audio recording — and link it to the core clinical or business applications they use every day. Hyland is uniquely positioned to address all unstructured content needs because we are the only healthcare partner that provides both a full suite of content services and enterprise imaging tools.

By enhancing the EMR or other core clinical application with unstructured content that currently resides in disparate data silos, we help complete the patient picture and place a truly comprehensive medical information repository at the fingertips of key healthcare stakeholders.

This improved visibility and access has tremendous value. It streamlines clinical and business workflows. It
facilitates information exchange and collaboration. It enables more informed clinical decision making.

And, it ultimately improves patient care and outcomes.

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Susan deCathelineau

With more than 20 years of healthcare technology and leadership experience, Susan deCathelineau is Hyland's senior vice president and chief customer success officer. In prior roles, she has led health information management, revenue cycle, and electronic medical record initiatives and has transformed processes by building and leading successful cross-functional teams. Before joining Hyland, she was Director of Corporate Information Systems at Allina Health. There, Susan led an enterprise-wide implementation of Hyland’s OnBase content services solution and its integration with the Epic EMR. Prior to Allina Health, Susan was vice president of product management at QuadraMed. She managed the product launch strategy and go-to-market programs. Susan holds a bachelor’s degree in health information management from the College of St. Scholastica and completed her master’s degree in health services administration at the College of St. Francis.

Latest posts by Susan deCathelineau (see all)

• Customer reviews make Hyland a Customers’ Choice - 04/25/2022
• The value of connected healthcare - 06/11/2021
• Broadening radiology’s medical imaging horizons - 11/18/2019