Hoping to achieve economies of scale and operating efficiency, providers are consolidating into larger integrated delivery networks. Mergers and acquisitions are never easy; getting disparate information systems to work together can be a nightmare. That’s why having an IT system integration strategy is crucial.

“When you look at the data, it shows that fully half of organizations, if faced with an acquisition with a different EMR starting tomorrow, would take 12 months or more to integrate them,” said Edward Chung, a physician advisor who researches clinical use cases for HealthShare, a health informatics platform developed by InterSystems Corporation, a leading global provider of connected healthcare solutions. “There is a lot of complexity with these systems; none of them exist on a single platform, and with any combination, there are a lot of different forms of data that need to be connected,” he added.

Having a unified IT approach in a consolidated healthcare organization is a huge strategic advantage, said Chung. Some of the benefits include:

·               Increased physician engagement, giving clinicians the ability to manage care entirely within the new network.

·               A more consistent way of interacting with patients, thus encouraging them to see providers within the consolidated network.

·               The availability of applications that enable patients to manage care, such as scheduling appointments anywhere in the network.

·               Integrated records that record data from patient encounters involving any network provider.

It’s been difficult, however, to get providers’ information systems to work together seamlessly, which makes an interoperability-based data systems integration strategy crucial. “If an organization is planning on doing several acquisitions, each having different EMR environments, the case for investing in a strong interoperability solution is clear,” Chung said.

There are three essential components in an integration strategy which ensure that everyone associated with care has consistent and comprehensive information for managing patient treatment, said Chung.

1.              Strengthen the organizational “core.” Providers should optimize their ability to achieve interoperability now, in advance of future consolidations.

2.              Stay nimble. An interoperability strategy provides the flexibility to lead care transformation and seize market opportunities as they arise.

3.              Realize value. Leverage existing investments in information technology, enabling the organization to maximize resources and accelerate the return on new affiliations through strategic interoperability.

Chung has seen two distinct choices for achieving IT integration in consolidating organizations.

One is what he calls “interoperability the hard way.” It involves having the IT systems in one organization replaced by the systems used in the more dominant organization. “You incur incredible cost and pain, because this forces people to adopt a new system and new workflows,” he said. This approach typically involves a long and expensive installation/training cycle, and is likely to increase stress and unhappiness by those who feel forced to make the switch.

The other is to employ an interoperability platform that manages data integration and exchange between different systems. This enables end-users to continue to work on systems with which they’re familiar, minimizing training and maintaining existing workflows.

“There are no magic bullets that lead to a successful consolidation,” Chung concluded, “but removing barriers to cultural and operational integration can only help, and here is where interoperability shines.”

Be sure to visit the InterSystems booth # 961 at HIMSS15 Annual Conference. For more information about InterSystems, visit www.intersystems.com.