Wow, what a conference. As we wrap up exhibit day 3 of the annual HIMSS conference I can’t help but reflect on a buzzword I heard throughout the day. That word is collaboration. Collaboration between providers and health plans; patients and providers, vendors; and employee.
Provider and Health Plans: Healthcare organizations, both providers and health plans are looking to enrich the patient experience, improve health outcomes and reduce the cost of care. They are also understanding that they can not do it alone and must find creative ways to work together like never before. Collaboration between health plans and provider organizations not only serves the patient well but can result in financial benefits and increased market share through enhanced consumer experiences and improvement in clinical outcomes for the individuals and populations they serve.
Patients and Providers: The patient/provider dynamic has changed as patients are demanding access to their health records and more input on their care plans. Provider organizations that embrace the opportunity to work collaboratively and empower their patients to make informed decisions about their healthcare will be on the right track to establishing patient loyalty. Transparency is a key to patient and provider collaboration and a platform to deliver health data to patients is a critical piece to the puzzle.
Vendor Collaboration: As vendors, we strive to provide the best solutions and the best services possible to meet the needs of our customers. In the ever evolving healthcare world, regulations, deadlines and competing priorities can make it easy to lose sight of what is important. Ultimately, we need to keep in mind that it really comes down to doing what is right for the patients – this is why we do what we do.
Employee Collaboration: Many executives are looking to gain business value from their enterprise collaboration technologies and tools. Collaboration technologies can improve processes and overall business performance. Healthcare organizations need their teams to be more efficient, perform smarter and faster and be more productive. This requires collaborative technologies to be ingrained in processes in order to transform the way an organization turns knowledge into action. Platforms for collaboration should help employees communicate more effectively and work more efficiently.
It was nice to hear the emphasis on collaboration throughout today. Technology is a major enabler for collaboration and as providers, health plans, patients and vendors our goal should be the same – to improve healthcare!
