At HIMSS17, Hyland OnBase continues to evolve as healthcare business processes change
In a world of many changes, it's heartening that some things can be depended on, year after year. One of those things is the convivial sports bar, smack in the middle of the HIMSS17 exhibit hall, sponsored each year by Hyland: There, convention-goers each afternoon can learn about Hyland's OnBase enterprise content management technology while also perhaps enjoying a beer and some snacks.
"It's recognized across the exhibit floor and certainly it's a way that we demonstrate our hospitality to those visiting with us, as well as providing a peek into our culture – work hard, play hard," said Susan deCathelineau, vice president of global healthcare sales and services at Hyland.
But of course, Hyland's core offering is the main attraction here, and OnBase continues to evolve to meet the fast-changing demands of a healthcare industry in transition.
"We're going to continue to focus our enterprise message," said deCathelineau of Hyland's HIMSS17 to-do list. "OnBase can impact so many areas of the organization: It's one platform that sits across an organization in supporting workflows from patient lifecycle with registration, clinical care, revenue cycle – as well as administrative areas such as accounts payable, human resources, content management. So our overarching message is really about OnBase as that platform to support an organization's business processes."
Interoperability and security are also both big items on the OnBase radar screen nowadays, of course. For instance, Hyland participated in the recent annual IHE Connectathon at the HIMSS Innovation Center in Cleveland.
"Interoperability is an important part of what we do in being able to share meaningful information," she said. "I'm sure all of us can appreciate that there are times when we visit, whether it's the physician's office or we're in for a procedure, and we're having to repeat information that has already been provided, or needed to access information from another location or have to retake a test or procedure because that information wasn't available."
The Connectathon, she said, is a way to demonstrate Hyland's vision of "how to share information from provider to provider, as well as from provider to payer, as part of the billing cycle, and that we are securing that information and giving the people who need that information the right access."
With regard to security, "it's a big topic for us," said deCathelineau. "We have done a lot within the development team to make sure organizations are managing who has access to the information. That there is high-level security, whether it be done through encyption or role-based access. But that we have the ability to manage who has access to critical information whether it's through using OnBase on a mobile, cloud or on-premise platform."
Those different methods of access are emblematic of a technology landscape and customer base that are both fast-evolving, she said.
"With the trends toward mergers and acquisitions, organizations are having to take a look at their technology investments, and they're needing to prioritize the technologies they're going to continue to leverage, and (whether they can) take those technologies and use them to be able to address multiple workflows vs. niche solutions," said deCathelineau.
As part of that, OnBase is increasingly called upon to replace old systems and position providers for healthcare's next era, she said. "We do a lot of conversions of legacy systems as organizations are trying to consolidate their technology investments, looking for a smaller number but more critical applications."
This article is part of our ongoing coverage of HIMSS17. Visit Destination HIMSS17 for previews, reporting live from the show floor and after the conference.