A Grand Vision for Better Healthcare

As changes in healthcare reimbursement move from a fee-for-service to a fee-for-value model, there is a growing need to capture tremendous amounts of data to be analyzed and communicated in an uncomplicated manner.
 
The healthcare industry will benefit from transforming itself. However, the challenges ahead (both technologically and otherwise) to improve patient outcomes and quality of care while lowering costs are substantial.
 
Recently, Axendia had the opportunity to interview two IBM executives—Pete Karns, IBM vice president, offerings, Internet of Things, and Michael Fahey, offering manager for exogenous data, IBM Watson Health—about their vision for better healthcare.
 
It is the vision of IBM Watson Health to bring together clinical, research, and social data from a diverse range of health sources, creating a secure, cloud-based data sharing hub that is powered by the most advanced cognitive and analytic technologies and fed by the Internet of Things (IoT). Following are highlights of a longer discussion that’s presented in a two-part series (links to the full version provided at the end).
 
Transforming the Healthcare Industry
There are several dimensions of healthcare operations in a medical facility, including case management, asset management, business management, and cost management. IBM is taking a macro view, aiming for integration across all systems. With data coming from multiple sources, a composite picture can now be modeled. Watson’s ability to bring together advanced image analytics and cognitive capabilities with data and images provides actionable insights. As processes (silos) become more integrated, the convergence of data will enable the transformation of healthcare.
 
Benjamin Franklin’s adage, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” still rings true today. If a clinician has the ability to spot a trend (good OR bad), then the healthcare community can proactively respond to it (either to impede or encourage).
 
In the fee-for-service world, reimbursement does not reward a focus on monitoring chronic disease and preventing hospitalization. A fee-for-value world, however, does encourage prevention. This, in turn, lowers overall cost and improves clinical outcomes.
 
The technology is available; the challenge is herding the cats! The biggest stumbling blocks are pessimism at all levels and the need to justify the cost.
 
In Pete Karns’ estimation, the biggest challenges are the adoption of “fee for value” and the formation of cost and quality metrics, which will cost justify the adoption of solutions such as Watson Health and IoT.
 
IBM is promoting the need to improve standardization throughout the healthcare industry. The current trend is to look at the data, including employee health records, rather than just the devices. The value is in the data and gaining insight by integrating it into the horizontal history of patient outcomes. With the widespread adoption and implementation of new technology, the larger pharma companies (those that can afford to take risks) will lead the way to transforming the industry.
 
Michael Fahey noted that there will be even greater value recognized by the connectedness of all aspects of healthcare, leading to improvement of the quality of outcomes and the reduction in costs. In addition, he pointed to significant reductions in healthcare costs that can come about by more prevention, which reduces the need for critical care in later stages of the progression of chronic disease.
 
Changing the focus of the healthcare industry is not an easy task but it needs to happen if companies and institutions want to be competitive in today’s dynamic market. There is pressure on many fronts to make this change. The catalyst is improved patient outcomes at lower costs; the facilitator is the new technology that makes connectedness and intelligence possible.
 
Summary
IBM has a grand vision for better healthcare and the technology to enable it. To provide the most effective, lowest cost healthcare, the information siloes must be breached; data must be transformed to intelligence and flow seamlessly through all constituencies.
 
Technology can pave the way to better healthcare. IoT and cognitive computing will play a key role in the transformation of healthcare in the next few years. Those who adopt new technologies to support preventive approaches and improve patient outcomes while reducing costs will lead the way in healthcare transformation.
 
To read the full version of this article, see the following: Part 1 and Part 2.