Victoria-based Alfred Health has selected 3M's clinical documentation integrity and computer-assisted coding system to improve documentation and streamline processes.  

WHY IT MATTERS

Alfred Health will use the 3M 360 Encompass System to integrate and automate CDI, medical records clinical coding and performance monitoring across all its facilities. 3M's CDI and coding system is currently used by over 2,000 healthcare organisations across the US, Canada and Europe.

The technology will enable the hospital to improve, query and monitor documentation for optimal coded data, "increasing coding productivity, appropriate diagnosis-related group capture and reimbursement and actionable data to support the improvement of patient outcomes", 3M said in a statement.

The CDI and coding system will also be integrated with Alfred Health's Cerner EMR record system to fix the inefficiencies of having multiple coding, documentation query workflows and additional costs and burden of disconnected systems.

According to 3M, its solution promotes the complete capture of patient complexity in clinical documentation and coding "to accurately reflect case-mix and significantly reduce the time and resources needed to effectively collaborate across multiple workstreams."

"With 3M Codefinder as its foundation, 3M 360 Encompass System incorporates all of the current Australian ICD-10-AM/ACHI/ACS coding content, rules and functionality that have been developed with customers' input over the past 30 years," the company said.

Besides the 360 Encompass System, 3M will also deploy its Business Process Advisory Service, a computer-assisted physician documentation solution called 3MTM CDI EngageTM, along with the 3MTM Advanced CDI Program, a CDI consulting and education programme.

THE LARGER TREND

In March, US-based Michigan Medicine contracted 3M to improve its clinical electronic health record documentation. The suite of AI-powered solutions, including the 360 Encompass System, is being integrated across its three hospitals and 125 clinical systems.

The next month saw 3M launching a new platform to enable healthcare providers and payers to prioritise care for high-risk populations. The company said in a statement that the platform combines clinical, social and population health data to create a complete picture of patient health.