No matter what industry you’re in, you’ll face challenges. They’re unavoidable as the environment shifts, technology marches ahead, and people themselves change. The key to overcoming challenges is to view them not as insurmountable issues or business interruptions, but rather as exciting opportunities that, when handled with skill, can help you advance your work and ultimately provide even better patient care.
Right now, these four health information management challenges are dominating the HIM landscape, providing excellent opportunities for growth and innovation:
As you’re aware, telehealth has been available to patients for quite some time. With healthcare facilities’ limited capacities mandated during COVID outbreaks, more patients had the chance to try these appointments and become more comfortable with the technology and the new experience. When they had reason for a telehealth appointment, they overwhelmingly appreciate the benefits—they don’t need to travel, find parking, and possibly expose themselves to others who may be sick by heading into a healthcare facility. They love the convenience of being seen from the comfort of their home. Healthcare providers too, recognized the benefits. These appointments were extremely cost-effective, especially for those with chronic conditions. They also saved healthcare systems money since patients could avoid heading to the hospital or needing care in long-term care facilities.
As this technology is embraced by patients and providers, it presents several challenges. Networks that were once simple to secure inhouse are now subject to the security levels of the individual homes that are logging in. HIM teams must navigate the myriad technological issues that crop up while also ensuring that all patients have access to this technology.
The Fix: Telehealth expansion creates opportunities for HIM professionals to address the needs of both the providers and the patients and build better hybrid care models. HIM teams can work to increase network security, better understand local and federal regulations governing telehealth, and explore options for connections that can protect those at home. This challenge also encourages forward-thinking HIM professionals to rethink the telehealth experience, perhaps merging the best parts of the office experience with the home experience. Finally, it gives HIM professionals opportunities to find creative ways to make telehealth more accessible to all.
Healthcare breaches continue to proliferate, as the industry is specifically targeted by cybercriminals. Whether they attempt to extract a ransom, threaten to expose patients’ sensitive information—or even cause life-threatening havoc by attacking critical wearables or medical equipment itself—these attacks grow increasingly dangerous and expensive. Aside from the requested ransom, healthcare facilities and systems lose valuable time cleaning up the mess on the technology side, dealing with patient lawsuits, and repairing their reputation. Meanwhile, vulnerable patients face impact to their care.
The Fix: Despite the dangers, there is still room for growth here. Leaders in the HIM industry can follow the lead of industries who have been similarly targeted, like the banking and finance sectors. They can closely examine their EHR software to identify and remedy any security gaps in the chain. They can also consider implementing document management software (DMS) to safely store patients’ information and even protect it in the event of downtime.
With recent interoperability rules and standardization in place for electronic health records that open up free, secure access for patients, the field is shifting. New changes mean that providers, payers, and health tech developers have greater interoperability—and new tools to help them make that happen. The challenge here is deciding which one makes the most sense for your facility or system—and making that transition. Amazon, Google, and Microsoft have thrown their hats in the ring, offering more cloud-based solutions with real-time analysis and insights, stronger security and privacy, and better storage capabilities.
The Fix: HIM professionals have several opportunities here to help enhance their current EHR platforms, helping increase interoperability, learning the new programs, and ensuring that all systems work together. By adding DMS that integrates with EHR software, you can also ensure compliance, as well as intuitive interfaces that providers can leverage across all locations for all documents and data.
As Big Data gets bigger, HIM professionals need to find ways to create more data access, merging, and storage. Medical imaging grows increasingly more sophisticated, increasing file sizes too. Artificial intelligence (AI) and data from medical devices are being harnessed to better inform diagnoses and treatments. All of this data requires more space and more robust processing capabilities.
The Fix: There are several ways to address these challenges. One way is for HIM professionals to move data storage to the cloud. A DMS can accommodate growing storage needs while organizing and securing all data. As machine learning (ML) and AI take on increased roles in “precision medicine” by helping to build predictive health models and anticipating issues much earlier for patients, HIM leaders that leverage these technologies will help improve patient care dramatically and keep patients out of the ICU and ER. While this requires a greater monetary investment, the ROI will more than cover the outlay, with reduced medical costs and decreased liabilities.
Related: Industry Update: What to Know About Recent Changes in Health Information Management (HIM)
It is an exciting time to be in HIM. With the potential to create systems easier for both providers and patients to manage, increase patient security, and enhance patient outcomes, there are excellent opportunities for HIM professionals who hope to take their career and their level of care to the next level. These four opportunities are great places to start.