As part of the 21st Century Cures Act, healthcare organizations must now provide patients access to their health records in an electronic format. What does this mean for patients and providers? At Skyscape, we are solving some of the challenges of communicating effectively between care providers and patients across the silos, and we welcome these new patient-friendly rules. This is a first step in the right direction toward putting the new regulation into practice.
This is a very important crossroads for patient information privacy and transparency; open, regulated communication is important for patients to make better-informed healthcare decisions.
The new rules are patient-friendly initiatives that will help those who want to take charge of their health. In some ways, this flexibility is already available through the patient portals many mainstream EHR systems use, but the process can be trying, especially when multiple providers use separate EHR systems.
Data aggregation will be the key to a successful initiative. There are many qualified EHR systems with unique portals and workflows, but no universal system or “home base” for aggregation. That leads to a delivery issue (are paper records the answer, or an online cloud?) and to privacy and security concerns.
The biggest challenge is to create a smart ‘pipe’ for accessing data from different systems and disseminating it securely across various networks of care providers. Even with a regulatory mandate, it will be difficult to maintain a centralized repository that extends patient data across a lifetime.
Accessibility and privacy are concerns with existing systems, but there is an opportunity for providers and record systems to take a collaborative approach to patient data sharing.
We believe in transparency in patient communications, and Skyscape’s Buzz platform combines document sharing and e-signatures, Skyscape’s clinical library, and instant messaging in a fully customizable, HIPAA-secure platform to make patient care coordination simpler.
Buzz is simple and intuitive, with powerful features to reduce overhead and duplication, supporting patient privacy through HIPAA compliance. It offers real-time communication and collaboration, combining instant messaging, integrated phone, fax and video, and document sharing with editing and e-signatures, plus contextual access to Skyscape’s trusted clinical library. These features and many more come in a single customizable HIPAA-secure environment that reduces administrative burden and improves business outcomes.
Our team is available to help. Set up a quick meeting to learn how Buzz can help you and your team.