Resolve healthcare interoperability with solutions in AWS Marketplace

There has been a shift over the past decade by US-based healthcare providers toward the use of electronic health records (EHRs). The latest numbers reveal that almost 90 percent of office-based physicians and 94 percent of hospitals use EHRs to deliver patient care. But, even with all this progress, there are still clear hurdles to overcome in this ongoing transformation.

Healthcare providers do not all collect the exact same information for patients. With nonstandardized data being generated across health systems, interoperability presents a continuing challenge to healthcare providers. As developments in healthcare technology progress, the definition of electronic health information is also expanding. We are also seeing an increasing number of organizations and individuals requiring access to EHRs. This results in a greater number of external entry points that increase the attack surface of an EHR and present security risks. Another roadblock is information blocking. Namely, the “practice by an ‘actor’ that is likely to interfere with the access, exchange, or use of electronic health information (EHI), except as required by law or specified in an information blocking exception.” The 21st Century Cures Act addresses these obstacles and positions sharing electronic health information as the norm in healthcare moving into the future. Even with regulatory progress and industry initiatives, interoperability challenges persist within this evolving industry.

AWS Marketplace spotlights the growing healthcare technology segment during the recent webinar Overcome interoperability challenges through AWS Marketplace. In this session, Emtiro Health’s Kelly Garrison and I examine how interoperability in technology solutions is key to the evolution of healthcare. We also provide an overview of interoperability solutions available in AWS Marketplace that can help improve healthcare delivery.

Realize innovative cloud-based healthcare interoperability solutions with InterSystems

The North West London Integrated Care System (ICS) is committed to improving the health and well-being of its 2.1 million citizens. It works with its partners to reduce inequalities, increase quality of life, and achieve outcomes on par with leading global cities.

North West London ICS turned to InterSystems to provide a platform that would improve interoperability—specifically the Health Connect Cloud (HCC) solution. InterSystems provides innovative data solutions for organizations with critical information needs in the healthcare, finance, and logistics sectors and beyond. Its HCC solution is a healthcare integration engine delivering high-volume transaction support, process management, and monitoring to support healthcare organizations’ mission-critical applications.

With HCC, North West London ICS was able to boost health system performance. Specifically, it has accelerated integration, reduced conversion time, and provided secure and highly available systems. “As an ICS, we have a responsibility to meet the diverse needs of the people we serve. We’re committed to doing everything we can to ensure health and care in our region are collaborative and resources are shared effectively,” said Matthew Kybert, deputy CIO – system solutions at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust. “Technology is playing an important role in helping us do just that. And I’m delighted to be working with InterSystems to advance in our shared goal of boosting healthcare interoperability to drive transformation and improve patient care.”

Create new patient and clinician experiences in the cloud with Redox

A regional not-for-profit healthcare delivery system wanted to use AWS in order to build an innovation hub. Their goal was to develop new applications that would serve to improve patient experiences. After several months of working with a consulting partner, their team sought out Redox. They hoped Redox would help them remove some of the interoperability challenges they ran into while seeking to improve their patient and clinician experiences.

Redox is a fully managed service integration platform to securely and efficiently exchange healthcare data. In just weeks, the Redox for Cloud solution mapped, translated, and normalized HL7v2 EHR data to JSON for ingestion into Amazon S3. The solution now enables approximately 500,000 transactions every month between the organization’s Epic EHR and Amazon S3.

“EHR API services are not always as they seem, which was a significant challenge in executing our vision,” the director of digital products for the nonprofit regional healthcare delivery system commented. “Redox helped us overcome this.”

Bring together disparate healthcare data with Innovaccer

Emtiro Health supports providers, systems, and payers with expertise and knowledge. It empowers users to improve outcomes and patient experiences at a lower cost of care, all achieved via data and analytics. With a near-term focus on supporting North Carolina’s transition to Medicaid Managed Care, it is committed to unlocking value for under-resourced populations. The organization strives to provide tailored, evidence-based, and data-driven solutions but is faced with data silos and disconnected systems. Emtiro is also burdened by challenges in assessing their population’s health and coordinating and planning care for their population.

Emtiro looks to Innovaccer for a seamless solution to aggregate disparate data sources for a transient population to drive better patient outcomes. The Innovaccer Health Cloud’s Data Activation Platform enables Emtiro Health to integrate siloed patient data into a unified patient record. With this platform, it can adopt a data-driven approach that used analytics, integrated workflows, protocols, and care planning tools. The solution is designed to help providers and care teams improve clinical outcomes for their Medicaid beneficiaries.

“Emtiro Health has found a true partner in Innovaccer,” said Kelly Garrison, Emtiro Health president and CEO. “We’re proud to combine [the Innovaccer Health Cloud’s] powerful Data Activation Platform—which brings together many disparate data sources—with our expertise in North Carolina’s Advanced Medical Home model to drive improved outcomes for Medicaid beneficiaries across the state.”

Healthcare solutions in AWS Marketplace

Interoperability between technology solutions is imperative for the transition to a modern healthcare environment. Healthcare solutions available in AWS Marketplace support organizations across the industry in advancing interoperability across your operations. To learn more about overcoming the interoperability hurdles present across today’s healthcare space, watch the Overcome interoperability challenges through AWS Marketplace webinar on demand.

About the author

Michael Leonard is responsible for developing healthcare partnerships for the AWS Partner Organization and growing the AWS Marketplace and AWS Data Exchange healthcare vertical business. His previous role was as a Principal Product Manager on the AWS Storage Gateway team. Over the past 20 years, Michael has progressed through a variety of roles in business development, product management, and engineering at AWS, Commvault, Iron Mountain, Merge Healthcare, and GE Healthcare. He built and managed teams to develop healthcare IT solutions focused on medical imaging, EHR systems, hybrid cloud storage services, and data protection solutions.