Healthcare Data Solutions: Beyond Data, Customized Products, Services Provide Business Intelligence To Healthcare Industry For More Accurate, Faster Decisions, Improved Results
Comprehensive Databases, Cloud Access, Updates Every Four Hours Help Medical Device, Pharmaceutical, Pharmacies, Other Healthcare Companies Verify, Validate, Comply, Reduce Risk
In the tumultuous ever-changing world of healthcare reform – with new regulations, millions of new entrants into the insurance pool and providers moving in and out of eligibility – where does intelligence come from to help companies get a 360-degree view on every healthcare provider, organization and the links between them for accurate and effective marketing, sales and compliance?
Enter Healthcare Data Solutions (HDS), which was created to serve the healthcare industry as the trusted resource for accurate, real-time healthcare data.
HDS was founded in 2006 by former executives of Infogroup, Dun & Bradstreet, SK&A, Donnelley Marketing and Experian, companies that provide data and information to businesses across many different industries and markets. As experienced data professionals and healthcare industry leaders, the founders recognized that healthcare companies needed a specialized approach and began developing the technology, processes and talent to focus on the unique needs of a complex industry, with its many facets and layers and ever-changing regulations.
The timing was excellent. HDS began building what would become the most accurate, compliance-grade database in the industry on physicians, dentists, nurse practitioners and other healthcare providers, as well as pharmacies and hospitals. It started by culling data from several hundred private and public sources and then merging and cleaning the data and packaging it for addressing the many different and complex challenges being faced in different components of the healthcare industry.
The company also saw the opportunity to expand its array of products and services to illuminate the connection healthcare providers had to healthcare and group purchasing organizations, networks, systems and chains to help solve many unanswered problems facing the industry:
- How do pharmacies verify that prescribers are legitimate and current with providers moving, changing hospital and health system affiliations, and entering and leaving their fields frequently?
- How do medical device, pharmaceutical and pharmacy companies comply with the complicated and ever-changing government-mandated regulations and requirements and prevent potential audits and penalties?
- How do pharmaceutical, business services, medical device and other manufacturing companies find and reach the right target audiences with information about their products and services and build relationships?
- How do they obtain information about a prospect within an organization to understand their business needs inside and out in order to sell and make recommendations?
- How do they determine physician and practice affiliations to health systems, hospitals, GPOs and other relationships that affect their prospects’ buying decisions?
- How do healthcare companies clean their data and analyze trends within it to determine which prospects are most likely to buy?
HDS set a goal to become a trusted source to manage the deluge of new data and information, and keep key decision makers throughout the healthcare industry informed and on track to stay compliant and help their businesses run more smoothly and profitably. From several hundred sources, HDS improved the breadth and depth of its data sources and created customized, machine-driven programs to cull, clean and package data into intelligent information its clients could use to make decisions.
Today, it culls from more than 1,000 sources and updates its databases to the cloud every four hours – the most frequent in the healthcare data industry. Clients access information in real time via the cloud using a customized interface developed by HDS. This culture of innovation and continuous improvement has paid off.
Healthcare Data Solutions has become the fastest growing healthcare data services company in the United States on both the Inc. 5000 and Deloitte Fast 500 lists. Last year, the company acquired StratCenter, a provider of facility databases, software programs and APIs to help its clients grow business throughout the supply chain.
With the acquisition, Healthcare Data Solutions now drives results for more than 500 active clients across the country. Headquartered in Irvine, Calif., HDS has offices in Lincoln and Omaha, Neb., and Mechanicsburg, Pa, and has other representatives throughout the country. HDS had a 35 percent increase in revenues between 2012 and 2013, and increased staff by 25 percent during the same period. The company data center is in Lincoln, Neb., which has been a vital hub for information services companies serving many data intensive industries, including research, direct marketing and credit reporting.
HDS clients and partners include many leading companies in life sciences, business services, health services, technology and manufacturing, and it works directly with hospitals, pharmacies, drug companies and medical device manufacturers. Innovation continues. The company is developing a single source for prescriber data that can benefit the entire healthcare industry, saving customers both time and money by eliminating bad data, keystrokes and the need to maintain multiple data sources.
“The healthcare industry runs on information and data from many different start and end points. The challenge is to get beyond data to insight and intelligence so the whole system runs better and more efficiently,” said Tim Slevin, president and CEO of HDS. “For some, the massive deluge can be complicated and overwhelming to tackle due to interoperability and integration issues. We understand how markets are moving and shifting. HDS uses data to understand the implications of healthcare reform and provide insights its clients can use today. We’ve developed machine-thinking to speed the process and help our clients achieve their goals and solve problems in data management, regulations and compliance with accurate and complete data.”
Slevin said the future goal is to have the ability to take electronic healthcare records (EHR) and craft business intelligence and decision-making into meaningful data that provides insights to providers, pharmacies and the entire healthcare industry.
“Our long-term vision is to build a database that serves as a neutral national provider of healthcare data and insights,” Slevin said. “We believe a web-based directory accessible via the cloud would benefit the entire industry and prompt a more seamless experience in obtaining, updating and maintaining disparate healthcare information and data on providers, patients and more. This includes tracking trends and using data to better understand the implications of the constant changes in healthcare.”
Innovative Products and Solutions, Connecting Systems and Technologies
Healthcare Data Solutions offers a wide range of products and services to assist customers in accessing data in real-time, managing targets, validating healthcare providers, and reaching healthcare providers and organizations through every channel. For example, HDS works with drug store chain pharmacy customers large and small to provide real-time access to the information their pharmacists need to streamline processes, such as verifying prescribers are cleared to prescribe and that information on the prescriber is accurate for insurance billing. With access to accurate, timely data pharmacies can avoid risk and save money. Products and solutions from Healthcare Data Solutions include:
- Healthcare Provider Databases – HDS offers national healthcare databases to target and reach healthcare providers and the organizations essential for business growth. These databases consist of accurate, up-to-date information on physicians, dentists, veterinarians, hospitals, pharmacists, nurse practitioners and physician assistants. Detailed data available includes address, phone, email, hospital/health system affiliation, IDN/GPO/ACO participation, DEA, state license, EHR usage information and any sanctions activity. For example, ProviderPRO is a database of nearly 2 million healthcare providers, and is used for marketing, prescriber verification, compliance and tracking spend, among other uses. The company has a dedicated Lincoln-based Research Center team, as well as a team of experts in data management, to ensure these databases are always updated and complete.
- Healthcare Organization Databases – To reach the right decision-maker for healthcare-related products and services, companies need to understand all purchasing influencers along the supply chain. That’s why HDS offers its clients a complete 360-view, from the healthcare provider databases listed above, to a complete listing of integrated delivery networks (IDNs), hospitals, health systems, long-term care facilities, cancer centers and other healthcare organizations. HDS clients can have the full picture – from physician-level information up to the hospital or health system affiliation and their group purchasing organization (GPO). Companies utilize information such as number of beds, number of outpatient procedures, patient volume, annual sales and more to determine desired targets, align sales territories, understand the market and further target their programs to increase sales.
- Data Services – HDS data services help companies cleanse and manage the data they already have, as well as access the data they need, easily and in real-time by tapping into culled web-based databases managed by HDS via a cloud API. Additionally, end-to-end email services (email lists; email marketing campaigns to market, communicate to customers and prospects). HDS offers analytics services (market analysis to identify opportunities by specialty, geography) to help its clients maximize sales and marketing investments and drive business development.
- Prescriber Verification Solutions – Four prescriber verification solutions help meet the ever changing demands of the healthcare industry with live access to compliance-grade data. The Sunshine Act/Open Payments law requires the reporting of certain payments and items of value given to physicians and teaching hospitals to Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). Pharmaceutical and medical device companies need to properly verify healthcare providers, track spend and ensure they have complete and accurate data for Open Payments and other reporting. They can do this by using HDSverify or HDSverify for Concur Connect, with real-time access to provider data inside the Concur expense system. For pharmacies, HDS helps manage 1 million prescriber validations a day for its customers. The four prescriber verification products and programs from HDS include:
- HDSverify – Provides access to more than 5 million healthcare providers (HCPs) and healthcare organizations (HCOs) to cross reference provider credentials including multiple state license, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and National Provider Identifiers (NPI) in real-time for Open Payments compliance, state license verification for sampling eligibility, pharmacy drug fulfillment, and aggregate spend compliance. Pharmacies are able to validate prescribers in real-time for prescription drug fulfillment.
- HDSverify for Concur Connect – Provides real-time access to HDSverify’s compliance database inside Concur (expense tracking and reporting) to easily identify HCPs and HCOs for accurate aggregate spend reporting.
- Prescriber Validation Subscription Service (PVSS) – Determines if prescriptions can be filled with real-time access to NPI and DEA credentials, prescriber practicing status and Office of Inspector General (OIG) or other sanction activity to reduce risk of fines and audits.
- Central Prescriber – Allows pharmacists to identify valid prescribers in real-time, integrated into a pharmacy application such as PDX. Integrates with PDX for seamless lookup of prescribers to locate and attach correctly to a prescription to avoid keystroke mistakes, saves time and streamlines processes; can be customized for non-PDX customers as well.
About Healthcare Data Solutions Leadership, Experience and Customer Service
The leadership team, under the direction of Tim Slevin, president and CEO, averages more than 20 years of experience each in successful management of healthcare data and customer service organizations. The company is known for its team-oriented and hard-working culture aimed at continuous improvement. In its fast-paced, collaborative environment, employees are providing high-level customer service, satisfying customers and working closely with them to exceed their expectations. The company is known for responding within 24 hours to 95 percent of the service requests it receives, which is unparalleled in the industry.
Source: Healthcare Data Solutions (HDS)