Trends Likely To Spark Conversation At HIMSS16 … And Beyond

By Jonathan Teich, MD, Chief Medical Informatics Officer, Elsevier Clinical Solutions

In looking through some of the topics on the agenda at this year’s HIMSS conference, several items stand out among the top industry trends and topics we will be hearing more about — both at HIMSS and throughout the year. Among them:

Interoperability
Every year it seems HIMSS includes a focus on interoperability and 2016 will be no different. This year, one topic of conversation will be how large EHR vendors are establishing Application Program Interfaces (APIs) for supporting third-party applications. This could potentially create a huge avenue for quality and workflow improvement by enabling outside innovators to contribute specific functions and tools into an overall functional profile for widely-adopted EHRs. The growth of the FHIR standard is another helpful factor; new profiles, including clinical decision support, are under development now. Some of the large EHR vendors at HIMSS may emphasize their progress with regards to APIs and demonstrate some early examples. There also is little doubt that many of the smaller third-party innovators will showcase how their new applications are or could soon be integrated into some of these major vendor systems.

Patient Engagement
While there is no question fully involving patients in their own healthcare is vital, providers and patients alike have found it frustrating to achieve patient engagement in a meaningful way. The growing number of patient portals, self-assessment tools, and community sites for patients are improving some points of communication and providing useful, if uneven, information. However, effective integration between the clinician’s world and the patient’s life outside the medical environment is still a work in progress.

Newer innovative tools can link information needs, therapeutic programs, status-monitoring, and goal-oriented activities between clinician and patient.  Clinical pathway software integrates patient self-care components with multi-disciplinary professional activities under a single plan, allowing health workers and patients to do what they do best while staying in sync. Two-way access to clinical information and patient information is improving through connected devices and apps. To make the best use of new technology, we also must take into account socioeconomic, cultural, and personal value differences. And, let’s not forget the international side of healthcare. This past year demonstrated how valuable rapidly-deployed information technology support was in assisting the management of the Ebola epidemic, as well as in broader health promotion applications throughout the developing world.

Replacing Meaningful Use
Since its inception in 2008, the intended goal of Meaningful Use (MU) was to use EHRs as an important tool in measuring and improving quality. Stage 1 focused on the widespread adoption of EHRs, which was largely successful. Stage 2 requires more advanced processes and systems, causing many eligible physicians and hospitals to question whether its incentive value justifies its effort and cost.

Today, MU is on the cusp of major change. It is likely that in its next iteration, MU will be integrated with PQRS (Physician Quality Reporting System) and MACRA (the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act), among others, into a consolidated program. With this consolidation comes the likelihood that the government will provide a broader definition of quality that is less focused on granular individual process targets and more on larger and more meaningful outcomes. For example, can physicians report on process excellence and outcome success in achieving good control for diabetics? Can we measure and base incentives on reducing complications? By developing widely applicable, consistent reporting for these broader metrics, both provider and vendor efforts will be directed toward clearly recognizable and meaningful quality improvements.

These are just a few of the topics and trends I believe will engage, guide and educate attendees at HIMSS this year in Las Vegas, and likely continue into 2016.