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Secondary use of data collected in electronic medical records will be the key to greater quality and cost savings in the next five years

The new research report released by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) reveals that secondary use of data  gathered in electronic medical records will help to achieve greater quality and cost savings in the next five years. The report is based on the survey in which more than 700 individuals representing providers, payers and drug companies were paticipated. Three-quarters of the participants agree that the secondary use of health record information will be their organization's greatest asset.

The report entitled "Transforming Healthcare through Secondary Use of Health Data," PWC calls for a public-private collaboration and a role for government in creating incentives for the private sector to collect, share and use health data. The report also urges public-private partnerships to establish standards and redefine technical architecture to allow interoperability.

PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) found that the data that could be extracted from a health solution can help in improving patient care, predict public health trends and also can reduce healthcare costs. But the issues like lack of standards, privacy concerns and technology limitations are holding back progress. The Healthcare industry won't be able to get the full value on return of investments in electronic medical records and other health IT investments until it finds secondary uses for the information being gathered, the report says. Daniel Garrett, partner and leader of PWC's health industries technology practice, said the potential of secondary health information has yet to be realized.

"The implementation of electronic health records is an enormous investment for healthcare providers and for the industry, but the bigger challenge will be in trying to make use of the wealth of information within the U.S. health system that has been trapped in paper silos, just waiting to be unlocked and leveraged," Garrett said. "Healthcare organizations need to work together to overcome barriers and foster collaboration and innovation." he added.

Nine out of 10 healthcare executives believes that the secondary use of health information will significantly improve the quality of patient care and offers the promise of even greater benefits in the future. And nearly two thirds (65 percent) of health organizations say they expect their secondary data use to increase significantly within the next two years. 59 percent of organizations already using some form of secondary data have seen quality improvements where 42 percent have achieved cost savings. 36 percent have seen patient/member satisfaction improve and 29 percent have seen a revenue increase also. The reason that providers put forward for not using secondary data is lack of EHR implementation and not because they are opposed to the concept. Health plans are farthest behind in their secondary use of data despite their vast repository of comprehensive claims information from physicians, hospitals, pharmacies and dentists. The survey also finds out that ninety percent of pharmaceutical companies have limited or no access to health information contained in electronic health records. Most health organizations that use secondary data do so for their own quality monitoring and reporting and for identifying areas that need quality improvement.

The survey discloses that the secondary use of health data is still in its infancy stage. And is expected to grow exponentially as health IT implementation is fueled by federal stimulus funds.

Source: Healthcare IT News

You can discuss more about Electronic Medical Records in our EMR Group