Provider access to medical history is crucial for patients diagnosed with COVID-19, which often leads to worse outcomes for those with significant comorbidities. But due to lack of interoperability between healthcare IT systems, patient history can be cumbersome to obtain—and this can hamper a physician's ability to care for patients appropriately when rapid treatment is crucial.
As Cotiviti CEO Emad Rizk, M.D., writes in a newly published article in the Journal of AHIMA:
In the first months of the pandemic, interoperability issues forced some physicians to become “medical detectives,” piecing together the right interventions without a complete view of the patient’s medical history. This problem was compounded at times by limited ability to connect with family members due to social distancing restrictions. Public health agencies struggled to cobble together data from disparate systems to help identify major risks associated with the disease, and breakdowns in continuity of care occurred when primary care physicians were left out of the notification process.
How can the industry overcome these major challenges? Read Dr. Rizk's article to learn why analytics-driven interoperability, which is expected to accelerate with the implementation of the 21st Century Cures Act, will:
- Establish a single source of truth for payers and providers
- Reduce disparities in care for vulnerable populations
- Strengthen collaboration between healthcare stakeholders
Cotiviti's COVID-19 Outbreak Tracker indicates areas of potentially hidden outbreak across the U.S. and which states could see the most severe cases based on their population's comorbidities. View our maps and learn more about our methodology.
