Collaboration in healthcare? Yes, it’s possible.

“Payers and providers are collaborating to solve healthcare’s inefficiencies.” It’s a comment we don’t often hear in our industry. Today, payers and providers depend on third parties like clearinghouses, data platforms, and individual APIs to bridge the connectivity gap that makes collaboration so difficult. Most organizations have hundreds of these one-to-one gateways to maintain and manage. While they make bi-directional, use-case specific transactions possible, they don’t allow collaboration in the truest sense.

But that’s about to change. Since 2017, payers, providers and other healthcare industry stakeholders have been designing and building a new way to connect that finally makes true collaboration possible. From those pioneering efforts, Avaneer Health was born to make the dream a reality, and the collaboration continues.

Recently, senior director of revenue cycle transformation at a large national and international health system said, “We’ve never had an opportunity at this scale to work with a national insurer that covers a significant percentage of our patients to merge our data sets together, allowing both of us to ensure data quality and accuracy.”

Another client, the senior director of technology exploration at a large, national payer organization, said, “One of the biggest focuses of the DaVinci Project and ONC is to try to get the market to align on methodologies for using data in a common format. We’re showing it’s possible and making it real in a connected way.”

These clients and others are working together to demonstrate new connectivity capabilities. They’re using Avaneer Collaboration ServicesTM, a suite of utilities that makes collaboration possible, including a person-centric identity service that connects to data discovery workflows that unlock access to permissioned data. The authorization review and exchange of data are trackable, auditable, and immutable with a blockchain node in each participant’s Avaneer SparkZoneTM (a client’s “home base” on the Avaneer NetworkTM).

Participants provide their data and establish a network identity called an Avaneer ID. When and where the Collaboration Services detects other participants who share data for the same Avaneer ID, data-sharing authorization policies defined by the owning organization are automatically evaluated in real-time to determine if the release of data is permissible. Where authorization is permitted, data is shared directly and securely between network participants without the need for an additional ask to obtain it. As participants update their information, that update is also made available in real-time to permissioned organizations serving the same person. Only the minimally required and necessary data is exchanged without Avaneer seeing or storing the data.

The opportunities to deliver solutions to current inefficiencies and introduce new value with the collaboration enabled is limited only by our imagination. Coverage verification, coordination of benefits, and automated authorizations are just a few of the industry’s most challenging problems these collaborators are addressing.

It’s a new way forward and Avaneer Health is leading the way. We hope you’ll join us.

Mary Butler-Everson
SVP, Commercial Growth
Avaneer Health

In This Issue

From the Avaneer Blog

Reinventing the Back Office to Finally Deliver on the Patient-Centric Promise

Research shows that in 2019, one in three providers still relied on fax (paper or electronic) or the USPS to share patient information with providers outside their organizations. Will our industry ever rid itself of outdated technology and manual processes? The answer is “yes” and it may be closer than you think. Read More

Industry News

Healthcare Analytics and Interoperability – 2023 Health IT Predictions

Healthcare IT Today

In this insightful article, 13 industry leaders share their thoughts on what we can expect in 2023. Nearly all talk about data—both clinical and administrative—and its association with the patient experience. While all of the predictions are spot on, the word “innovation” was only mentioned twice. It’s only through innovation that predictions can become reality. Read the Article

2023 ISA Reference Edition is Here

Health IT Buzz

The ONC received more than 150 comments during its 60-day public comment period ending September 30th of last year, all of which are reflected in the 2023 Interoperability Standards Advisory (ISA) Reference Edition. Get the latest updates on SVAP integration, pharmacy interoperability, adverse event reporting, and more. Read the Article

The rules, laws, and policy digital health needs to know to stay ahead this year

Second Opinion

This fascinating article covers a vast array of healthcare regulations, what they mean, and deadlines for compliance, as well as hurdles, inconsistencies, and limitations of federally mandated rules. “The real reality is that small regulatory carrots can help to tick the needle forward, but larger private sector sticks will better do the trick.” From interoperability to patient access to data exchange and price transparency, you’ll get an insightful picture of the role of private industry in moving these critical initiatives forward. Read the Article

We want to meet you!

We are attending a few events this spring and hope to meet you in person.

We will have a pod at ViVE 23, reply to this email and let us know if you’d like to set up time to meet.

Meet with us at HIMSS23 – we will have a meeting room on the exhibit floor and are hosting a lunch and learn. Reply to this email if you’d like more information about connecting.

New Way to Connect and Network

We take for granted our ability to go to any bank’s ATM to get cash and see our account balance, or that we can use our cell phones in just about any location. These things are made possible through integrated financial and cellular networks that allow free-flowing transactions between multiple entities.

At Avaneer Health, we’re building that kind of network for healthcare. We’re going beyond the traditional ideas of interoperability and creating an entirely new way of transacting healthcare. It’s not just a redesign or streamlining of existing processes. It’s about disruption and innovation. It’s about a new way of thinking and working together. It’s about reinventing the business of healthcare.

The use cases for this type of network are limitless, but we’ve prioritized some of the most impactful: real-time adjudication and eligibility/coverage determination. We also see the urgent need for a dynamic solution exchange marketplace on which solutions can be launched and subscribed to by other healthcare organizations. We are partnering with organizations who want to launch solutions on our marketplace that improve administrative processes, encourage multi-app purchases, have a large addressable market, and are adaptable to a decentralized network.

We realize that the value of our network is closely aligned with the expansion of users and solutions. As more apps are added and more payers and providers join, that value increases exponentially. We invite you to join the network or learn more at www.avaneerhealth.com.

 

In This Issue

Featured Avaneer Content

Avaneer Health recognized as a great place to work

Avaneer Health has received the Built In’s 2023 Best Places to Work award. The award is presented to companies large and small, from startups to enterprises, and honors both remote-first employers and large tech firms across the country.

The award is determined based on several criteria, including compensation and benefits, flexible work opportunities, DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) programs, and other cultural factors.

Read More

Exploring Decentralized Architecture Networks in Healthcare

Health IT Analytics

A recent survey found that close to 60% of health systems use “more than 50 point solutions to manage healthcare operations.” Nearly one in four use more than 150. Besides high costs and growing stress, the lack of integration among these solutions increases burnout among clinicians, complicates patient care, and inhibits healthcare innovation. Read the Article

The Missing Ingredient in Today’s Patient Portals: Network Effects

The Healthcare Platform Blog (formerly e-CareManagement Blog)

Patient portals have increased in popularity in recent years but they have a long way to go to reach their full potential. The problem, according to the article, is a lack of network effects. “Portals offer mostly stand-alone value – the ability to conduct discrete transactions with one provider organization.” Research shows that 20% of Medicare patients have medical records with eight or more organizations; just 5% have records with a single provider. Having to log into multiple portals to get a complete picture of their healthcare has become a friction point for patients. To be truly patient-centric, healthcare organizations should allow patients to transact with all their providers in a single portal. This would drive patient usage, which would drive clinician usage, leading to mass adoption, innovation, better data, and greater value for all. This is the potential of network effects. Read the Article

10 healthcare companies that hit $1B valuations in 2022

Fierce Healthcare

Digital health startups saw an influx of venture funding in 2021, with 85 startups reaching unicorn status—a 49% increase from 2020. However, things took a downward turn in 2022 due to economic pressures, although not for everyone. This article introduces ten digital startups that are “bucking the trend, raising significant amounts of cash.” Learn what makes these innovative startups different. Read the Article

From the Avaneer Blog

It’s time to redefine what we mean by interoperability and reimagine what it could be

The definition of interoperability needs a makeover. As new technologies such as AI (artificial intelligence), machine learning, and blockchain are developed, we need to rethink what interoperability could mean. In yesterday’s terms, interoperability was closely aligned with APIs. While they are an effective tool for establishing connectivity between two entities, they aren’t the hoped-for conduit that finally allows us to maximize the potential of fast-growing landmasses of data we have available. What we need, and what new technologies can provide, is a decentralized peer-to-peer network where participants can connect once and transact with many. Read More

We want to meet you!

We are attending a few events this spring and hope to meet you in person.

We will have a pod at ViVE 23, reply to this email and let us know if you’d like to set up time to meet.

Meet with us at HIMSS23 – we will have a meeting room on the exhibit floor and are hosting a lunch and learn. Reply to this email if you’d like more information about connecting.

The Digital Transformation of Healthcare has Begun

What began as a conversation in 2017 about working together to advance healthcare transformation—is now closer to a reality than ever before. The Avaneer Health network has successfully completed a rigorous System and Organization Control (SOC 2) Type 1 examination. The in-depth audit ensures systems and operations meet all relevant security controls for processing protected health information (PHI). This is a huge step forward and a major achievement due to the hard work and commitment of our entire company and founding members.

Change is made possible through collaboration; and collaboration accelerates in a safe, secure environment that is built on trust. In an industry where new solutions often bring new complexities, our network simplifies the delivery of healthcare while enhancing outcomes and improving the patient experience.

Joe Rostock
Chief Operating Officer
Avaneer Health

In This Issue

Featured Avaneer Content

Webcast: Digital Transformation – How Automating the Back Office Delivers Consumer Trust

CVS Health, Sentara Healthcare, Avaneer Health

Imagine a world where healthcare providers and payers work together to co-create digital solutions that deliver a better, more effective healthcare experience. This is the topic of our recent webinar.

In this webcast, panelists explore what this type of digital transformation might look like, what it means in terms of automation, and how it might impact outcomes, costs, and the patient experience. Watch the Webcast

Industry News

New IT Report Finds Healthcare C-Suite Stressed Out by a Lack of Interoperability

Health Leaders

A recent survey found that close to 60% of health systems use “more than 50 point solutions to manage healthcare operations.” Nearly one in four use more than 150. Besides high costs and growing stress, the lack of integration among these solutions increases burnout among clinicians, complicates patient care, and inhibits healthcare innovation. Read the article

Experts Unpack the True Meaning Behind 3 Healthcare Buzzwords

MedCity News

To achieve meaningful improvements in our healthcare ecosystem requires consensus around common industry terms. For example, “interoperability” can mean different things to different people. For some, it means the ability to connect two systems for the purpose of exchanging data. For others, it means greater collaboration and innovation among industry stakeholders. At the recent HLTH 2022, healthcare experts attempted to unpack the true meaning behind “interoperability,” “reimagining healthcare,” and “data science.” Read the article

2023 May Bring Progress in SDOH Tech, Telehealth and Interoperability

Healthcare IT News

It may be hard to believe but access to healthcare is more challenging today than it was 20 years ago. This insightful article explores the role of interoperability in breaking down barriers in order to improve stakeholder collaboration and to address the underlying causes of health inequities. “To best serve a patient in need, we need the full picture across sectors, which is why interoperability between organizations and their technologies, as well as standards to share that information, is becoming a main topic of discussion at all levels.” Read the article

From the Avaneer Blog

Data Sharing in the Age of Digital Healthcare

The number of digital health devices and wearables has skyrocketed in recent years and continues to grow. It is estimated that every patient generates about 80 megabytes of imaging and EMR data every year. This data offers unprecedented potential in terms of outcomes and the patient experience. To realize this potential, we need the ability to seamlessly share this data among all healthcare stakeholders. Fortunately, there is a new way to do just that. Read More

How we can achieve greater effectiveness in healthcare administration

Effective healthcare administration requires that healthcare organizations share data with one another in a timely, secure, and accurate way.

APIs and use case-specific data standards—what we currently depend on to achieve interoperability—have been around for years and have done nothing to reduce the friction between payer and providers and other healthcare organizations. And while FHIR and TEFCA have given us a common set of protocols and standards for a payload of transactions on a network, they have done little to improve align the healthcare companies around the common incentives or serving the person and their families in a timely and effective manner.

To achieve effectiveness, speed and quality in healthcare administration we need all the parties involved interconnected and running common processes with common data models in a collaborative fashion that tears down barriers, builds trust, and helps provide better care for patients.

It’s a different processing model that requires a new approach to the administration of healthcare, one focused on collaboration and partnership—not just connections.

In this new collaborative model for the digitally innovative healthcare system, data doesn’t need to be aggregated each time it’s needed. Instead, it would be continuously refreshed, always current, and always accessible in real-time via a secure, peer-to-peer network to those who are permissioned to access it. This type of interoperable communication can completely revolutionize the way healthcare is transacted. Here’s how it might look:

This new way of transacting healthcare isn’t about streamlining the way we currently do things. It’s about doing things completely differently. It’s about reinventing the business of healthcare. I hope this month’s newsletter inspires you to think about interconnection and collaboration beyond interoperability and towards a better way to serve patients and members.

In This Issue

​​​​​​Featured Content

Digital Transformation Webinar: How Automating the Back Office Delivers Consumer Trust

Avaneer Health

We hear a lot about the “digital transformation” of healthcare. But what does that really mean and how do we go about making it a reality? This is the topic of a recent webinar from Avaneer Health, Digital Transformation—How Automating the Back Office Delivers Consumer Trust. Webinar panelists James Carr, Director of Revenue Cycle at Sentara Healthcare and Mark Treshock, Executive Director of Emerging Technology at CVS Health, explore what the digital transformation would look like, what it means in terms of automation, and how it might impact outcomes, costs, and the patient experience. Watch the webinar

Industry News

Reinventing the Back Office to Finally Deliver on the Patient-Centric Promise

MedCity News

We've been talking for years about the importance of creating a better patient experience. Yet, most of us have at least one personal story about a time when inefficient healthcare processes made it difficult to get the care we or a loved one needed. When will healthcare finally deliver on the promise? Read the article

The Integration Imperative: Achieving a Future Vision for Healthcare

Healthcare IT News

Everyone knows that integration is key to achieving interoperability. Yet, many people have a misconception about what is meant by the term “integration.” It’s about more than ensuring systems can talk to each other. This insightful article explores what it means to have an “integration mindset,” especially in four key areas. Read more

Who Needs Data Aggregation? There’s a Better Way

Avaneer Health

For far too long, we’ve focused on fixing our broken system when what we really need is a brand-new way of administering healthcare. We need to look at healthcare through a different lens and we need to do it from the perspective of the patient. After all, healthcare is human, not merely a business process. Read more

Recent research found that the global healthcare blockchain market grew by an annual rate of 55% between 2018 to 2021. The primary drivers were security and a lack of transparency across the value chain.

Can Blockchain Solve Healthcare's Security Problems? The Financial Industry Offers a Valuable Case Study

STAT

Blockchain took the financial industry by storm, but the sector has yet to reap the full rewards of this innovative technology. Now it’s healthcare’s turn. Will healthcare be able to overcome the obstacles that have held other industries back? Only time will tell. Read more

From the Avaneer Blog

How Interoperability Can Boost Revenue Cycle Results

Administrative inefficiencies cost the healthcare industry close to $500 billion each year, which includes $39 billion just to comply with administrative regulations and requirements. Advancing administrative interoperability is the only way we will ever reduce the cost of healthcare and achieve long-term revenue improvements. We have to continue asking ourselves what value we could generate if we weren’t spending billions of dollars on administrative waste and how would that enable us to make things better for the patient. Read More

Empowering a Better, Simpler Healthcare Ecosystem

We can be proud of how swiftly our industry adopted telehealth during the pandemic, deploying technology and integrating workflows in a matter of days to keep patients and staff safe. Beyond protection, we’ve realized many benefits of telehealth like improved access, especially in rural areas where providers are in short supply, and increased access to more timely behavioral health care. And numerous polls indicate that patients appreciate the convenience of telehealth and want to keep the option.

The number of virtual-first providers like Teladoc and Amwell have grown exponentially since the start of the pandemic.

This quick progress in telehealth points to the fact that we can, when we need to, make meaningful change happen quickly. Yet, the vast adoption of telehealth has also added yet another layer to our already disjointed, complicated healthcare system- creating more silos of data and disconnected systems. 

Many times, providers need to log into multiple systems that don’t seamlessly integrate for a complete patient profile to conduct a virtual visit. This has further highlighted how dire the need for interoperability has become—both clinically and administratively.

In this edition of the newsletter, we focus on how to simplify healthcare by reengineering the entire episode of care, from scheduling to claims adjudication to payments. What would it look like if we could provide real-time access to updated coverage information? What if most prior authorizations were automated? Could we make it easier for new healthcare innovations to come to market by simplifying how companies collaborate and deploy their solutions? Could we eliminate the need for data aggregation altogether?

The answer to all is a resounding “yes” and we’re already moving in that direction. I hope that this month’s articles inspire you to think about your own role in reimagining and simplifying the healthcare ecosystem.

Stuart Hanson
CEO, Avaneer Health

In This Issue

​​​​​​Featured Content

“The US will spend nearly $16 billion on electronic health record (EHR) and electronic medical record (EMR) systems in 2022, up 11.7% from 2020.” The Healthcare Interoperability Report

Empowering Healthcare Innovation in Today’s Network Ecosystem
Advancing Healthcare Innovation Show

In the financial realm, consumers have come to expect certain thing like being able to use an ATM or debit card nearly anywhere in the world to access dollars and get them in the local currency and in real time. At Avaneer, we’re trying to translate that experience into moving clinical records, moving care information, moving claims administrative transactions and other data to improve the patient experience. With a background in the financial services and health industry—both highly regulated, complex industries—Stuart Hanson, CEO of Avaneer Health, has a unique perspective on interoperability and the consumer experience. In this interview, Stuart discusses how quickly the industry moved to get employees set up for remote work, for remote work, accelerating to connect in days instead of the usual pace of months or years to integrate new technology. Now that we know what we’re capable of, it’s time to finally deliver on the full promise of a patient-centric care experience fueled by a new kind of collaboration.

Watch the show

Upcoming Events

[WEBINAR] Digital Transformation - How Automating the Back Office Delivers Consumer Trust

Join our upcoming webinar on November 3 at 1:00PM ET for an exploration of how healthcare could work differently as the panel members challenge the way healthcare approaches data exchange today, what is meant by digitizing the back office, how the revenue cycle can be improved with automation, and how it could impact the healthcare experience. Payers, providers, and innovators are coming together to collaborate.

Our speakers include:

James Carr
Director, Revenue Cycle
Sentara Healthcare

Mark Treshock
Executive Director of Emerging Technology
CVS Health

Sign up here

Industry News

How the Healthcare Industry is Catching Up with Advances in Technology
TechTalks

Health enterprises have invested millions in equipment and systems, much of which were designed before the advent of technologies like artificial intelligence, machine learning, and wearable devices. These new technologies have spawned unrealized potential for advancing care quality, but they require a level of interoperability that does not yet exist. “We can’t build these applications if we don’t have the interoperable data.”

Read more

Health Data and Interoperability Infrastructure Needs
Healthcare IT Today

The past five years have brought a “tenfold increase” in the volume of healthcare data that is—or could be—available, data that has the potential to transform how we deliver healthcare and the quality of that care. “Despite existing data standards, upstream adherence by EHR vendors and providers has been inconsistent, obscuring downstream insights.” In this intriguing article, healthcare leaders from across the country share their insights on where we are and where we need to be in regard to interoperability infrastructure.

Read more

Preparing for the Rising Tide of Interoperability in Healthcare
Journal of AHIMA

From the 2020 – 2025 Federal Health IT Strategic Plan to TEFCA to the looming October 6, 2022, deadline for the ONC’s Cures Act Final Rule, there’s a lot going on to advance healthcare interoperability. This informative article outlines all of the major initiatives, including deadlines and potential penalties. The author advises providers to be prepared for a “dramatic increase” in data availability. “This includes identifying resources and technical tools needed to validate and reconcile large volumes of structured and unstructured data.”

Read more

Watch the show

From the Avaneer Blog

Is it Time to Move Away from Data Aggregation?

There’s a difference between data exchange and data access. Data exchange—what our industry focuses on now—requires multiple actions between two parties, as well as the complex infrastructure to support data aggregation. Data access, on the other hand, requires no physical exchange of data or data aggregation. Through a decentralized, peer-to-peer network, all healthcare stakeholders with the appropriate permissions and consent can access the data they need when and where they need it.

Read More

We use cookies to give you the best online experience. By agreeing you accept the use of cookies in accordance with our cookie policy.

Privacy Settings saved!
Privacy Settings

When you visit any web site, it may store or retrieve information on your browser, mostly in the form of cookies. Control your personal Cookie Services here.

Decline all Services
Accept all Services