Salesforce Health Cloud and EHR Systems

“Customer experience has become the defining line between companies that grow and companies that fall behind.” Adam Blitzer, EVP and GM of Sales and Service Clouds, Salesforce.

The transformation of healthcare and life sciences has necessitated a profound technology shift in order to handle industry complexities. Digital healthcare represents a successful combination of technology advancement, which increases the efficiency of healthcare delivery and makes it more personalised.

In 2015, Salesforce stepped into this new and exciting area of healthcare with Health Cloud, a web-based CRM platform focusing on patient relationship management and improved patient experience. Its main feature includes connectivity between patients and caregivers, making healthcare seamless.

In 2016, Salesforce made another step ahead to improve the lives of professionals, this time in healthcare. Now, their thriving product Health Cloud is gaining momentum globally.

As the name itself suggests, Salesforce Health Cloud is there to perform some magic in healthcare, using state-of-the-art cloud technologies which make it so efficient, convenient, accessible, and, notably for the sensitive matter of health, secure.

Salesforce Health Cloud vs EHR

While some might see a degree of redundancy in the functionality of Health Cloud and EHR systems, as they do overlap in certain areas, the purpose for each differs drastically.

The history of EHR started in the 1970s when hospitals began to replace their paper records with electronic ones. EHR vendors have revolutionised medical record-keeping.

While giving EHRs well-deserved credit, some healthcare experts are doubtful if the systems will live up to the current industry’s expectations. EHRs appear to be static, offering little if any room for customisation or connectivity and, for this reason, they are failing to face competition from Salesforce Health Cloud.

So, what is it exactly that EHRs are lacking? And is Salesforce Health Cloud capable of meeting those needs?

VBC Success

Another aspect in which EHRs seem to be missing the mark is achieving VBC, that is, patient-oriented care, in which providers are rewarded for measurable patient health outcomes rather than being paid for the total amount of services delivered.

In other words, VBC for healthcare organisations means more data analysis, altering hospital processes for the sake of better patient care, adopting evidence-based care standards, giving the consumers new insights into care, etc. Some of the most important VBC challenges are:

• Interoperability
• Social Determinants of Health
• Patient Engagement
• Coordinating Stakeholders
• Data Analytics to Support Risk-Based Contracts

Unfortunately, EHR systems have not proved to be sufficient to meet those challenges.

Niki Buchanan, PHM Leader at Philips Wellcentive, explains that “They don’t have the insights that are needed in order to take the right proactive care.” These systems do not help determine who the highest-risk patients are, where they are in their care journey, etc., as EHRs simply have not been designed to perform those functions.

Connecting Health Providers with their Patients

Modern customer-oriented healthcare demands a more personalised approach to patients.  For the majority of people, customer service is the key differentiator when choosing a healthcare provider.

The Salesforce CRM system is designed specifically to address the uniformity and quality of the customer experience with a care provider.  This experience can encompass case monitoring, task prioritisation, information segmentation, and real-time communication to help deliver better customer satisfaction for every patient.

All-inclusive View of Patient Data

The very essence of value-based healthcare is timely and accurate information made accessible from diverse sources.

Health Cloud, as a content aggregator, enables professionals to receive exhaustive, multiple-source patient data views. It allows caregivers to gain a deeper insight into every case and, consequently, make effective patient care decisions.

Mobility and Real-time Communication

The digitalisation of every aspect of daily life calls for tech-savvy methods of healthcare management. According to Salesforce’s “State of the Connected Patient” Report, March 2015, 63% of Millennials would be interested in proactively providing their health data captured by “wearable” technology directly to their doctors, so that they can monitor their well-being. Real-time and instant communication between professionals and patients using up-to-date technology demonstrate obvious clinical and financial benefits. Efficient scheduling together with consultation, procedures via phone, email, and live chat, improve both practitioner productivity and consumer experience.

Analytics and Advanced Segmentation

Salesforce Health Cloud functionality also provides more intelligent ways of managing resources, data filtering and segmentation, and risk reduction. Its analytical capabilities utilise both clinical and non-clinical data. It empowers clinicians to create targeted approaches to patients, identify and calculate risks automatically, and create unique care plans for every patient.

HIPAA Compliance

The management of protected patient data is an especially sensitive issue for the healthcare industry. Health Cloud protects every element with its built-in HIPAA compliance features, including Salesforce Shield, Field Audit Trail, Platform Encryption, Data Archive and Event Monitoring, to satisfy security and privacy for every patient and care provider.

Health Cloud offers a new dimension in the provider-patient relationship with a combination of multiple platform features and resources.  

The Salesforce experience starts with your implementation partner. Consleague provides healthcare/pharmaceutical industry leaders with security-aligned, tailored CRM solutions that enable interoperability, leverage data insight, and improved consumer experience.

Customisation Possibilities

We are living in an ever-changing world. And the changes are happening fast. The ability to adapt is vital to survival in any sphere.

Health Cloud offers immense opportunities for customisation. Anything from handy reports and informative dashboards to mobile apps for patients – and all of them are integrated.

To discuss how Consleague can implement Health Cloud and transform your business, schedule a call with one of our Solution Experts today.

Source: https://www.avenga.com/