Executive Memorandum
Vendor-Supplied Applications
To: Professor Stephen T. Parente, Ph.D.
From: Jason Reeves, IHI Student
INTRODUCTION
There are several Vendor-Supplied Applications on the market that appear to have the future of patient safety and hospital management at the forefront. The three that I would like to discuss are MHS GENESIS, Epic, and Athena Health. The importance of streamlining documentation, billing, and improved patient outcomes is vital for all of us.
MHS GENESIS
MHS GENESIS supports the availability of electronic health records for more than 9.4 million DoD beneficiaries and approximately 205,000 Military Health System personnel globally. It enables the application of standardized workflows, integrated healthcare delivery, and data standards for the improved and secure electronic exchange of medical and patient data. MHS GENESIS is deploying via a wave model, beginning in the Pacific Northwest. (which has begun) Some key features are two-way communication, agile responsive system which supports the delivery of high-quality healthcare to our beneficiaries, and it is an integrated medical and dental record throughout the continuum of care. Lastly, MHS GENESIS benefits include monitoring of beneficiary’s health status through greater population health data, tracking, and alerting capabilities, an improved ability to monitor patient safety, outcomes, and operational and medical readiness, and improves data access and sharing of health information across the spectrum of military operations, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and civilian healthcare organizations. The cost to for this transition from the legacy EHRs to the new MHS GENESIS system will be approximately $9 billion by the end of the contract, with the addition of the Coast Guard.
EPIC
According to the Epic site it was founded in a basement in 1979 with 1½ employees. It further states that Epic develops software to help people get well, help people stay well, and help future generations be healthier. Some of the key features of the Epic system include a mobile app, interoperability between hospitals, and clinical and financial programs. Additionally, some key benefits include patients have personal and family health information at their fingertips with MyChart, it automates revenue and coding from clinical activity to reduce administrative overhead, avoid missing charges, reduce A/R days, and increase total revenue, Engage the patient by providing access to health and wellness information, appointment scheduling, e-visits, remote monitoring, and telehealth, and has many dedicated modules, too many to list. Lastly, the cost to implement the Epic EHR system in a facility is approximately $13 million per hospital.
ATHENA HEALTH
The last application I would like to disccus is Athena Health. According to their site, they service more than 115K providers and health systems nationwide, on a mission to help deliver better care for all. Additionally, some key features include medical billing, out-patient and in-patient management, patient records management, and accounting integration. Furthermore, there are many benefits to include streamlining the order transmission process, so you can close the loop on care, it increases patient engagement and loyalty with automated patient outreach, population health campaigns, and a patient portal rated best of its kind by a leading industry research company, and Rules Engine puts the experience and knowledge of all of our clients to work for each of our clients so that practices and health systems get paid more, faster. Lastly, the cost of the Athena Health system is a little more elusive. According to one source it could be as low as $140 per month, per user, depending on the packages purchased.
CONCLUSION
There are many vendor-supplied applications with the intent and mission to improve patient safety and outcomes. The MHS GENESIS system is the one that I am personally involved with because I am an active duty Soldier that will be going to the Defense Health Agency (DHA) when I complete my degree. It is vital to the future of our healthcare system that a system is developed that will securely handle patient medical information across all healthcare systems around the world. We owe it to all of us to become the world leaders in the health IT arena.
