Why Healthcare Organizations Must Avoid ‘Quick-Fix’ Data Solutions

The digital age of healthcare is well underway, yet medical providers face ongoing challenges to manage and streamline vast volumes of data for effective clinical care and patient record management.

The current prognosis is that there’s a wealth of data in healthcare but a poverty of insights. Data integration continues to be a challenge across the medical industry, according to 94% of organizations, with almost 40% of staff losing time in digging out accurate data.

Data challenges cannot be ignored in the healthcare industry, especially given that the sheer volume of data produced within this arena is one of the highest in the world: the average hospital produces 50 petabytes every year. Healthcare organizations must efficiently integrate the appropriate tools to address data fragmentation, formatting problems, security breaches, and silos, among others.

Let’s explore what to avoid when integrating technology to treat data pain points and why the industry needs comprehensive solutions like Enterprise Integration Platform as a Service (EiPaaS).

Why ‘quick fix’ solutions don’t work

Healthcare data needs are diverse and complex. The industry is encumbered by legacy systems (for instance, x-rays were developed in the 19th century). Through the years, as new technology like basic analytics solutions and cloud platforms have emerged, developers have done their best to integrate and add on to existing solutions along the way. However, over time, these workflows have become clunkier, leading to myriad challenges in monitoring vulnerabilities.

Organizations should opt for interoperable, scalable, traceable, secure, compliant, and accurate technologies to mitigate these challenges. Quick-fix solutions don’t tick all of these boxes, causing problems for organizations and patients down the wire.

Meeting these requirements also becomes arduous when applying new technology to old systems. Most hospitals can’t afford to stop business as usual at the expense of risking lives, but they are in dire need of an overhaul to leverage the scalable, secure, and streamlined workflows possible with today’s advanced technology.

Another vital element is managing vulnerabilities. Due to the complexity of healthcare’s digital network, it’s difficult to maintain a centralized, holistic view of data.

The cogs don’t always keep turning perfectly, and organizations must have adequate measures in place when, not if, a component fails so there’s guaranteed delivery of data.

Data handling is a matter of preserving quality

Sharing data while preserving its original form as it’s processed is challenging because of healthcare’s vast range of data sources (X-ray images, written patient notes, and medical papers, for example).

Mishandled data errors, whether when it’s shared or stored, put patients’ lives at risk. In fact, duplicates and missing information are among the most significant errors that wreak havoc on electronic health records (EHRs) and compromise clinical care.

Duplicates and fragmentation occur because the solutions and tools within an organization’s digital ecosystem are fed data in various formats when they can only process it in a limited number of formats. That’s where data standardization, formatting regulations, and automation come in, and help collect information in a way that is easier for healthcare systems to process.

Interoperability is key

Effectively collating and storing all data is only one part of the problem. Accurately communicating data between systems, platforms, and departments is another hurdle.

APIs that convert unstructured data into compatible formats without eroding it are needed to ensure interoperability across an organization’s digital ecosystem. When there are too many APIs that don’t convert data accurately, the efficacy and usability of outputs in healthcare operations are compromised.

Healthcare institutions must prioritize interoperability as data inconsistency continues to plague the industry. What’s more, incompatible software and poor interoperability cause data siloes and weak security—massively jeopardizing patients’ health records.

Unfortunately, many organizations are content with cumbersome legacy systems that prevent interoperability whenever new software is introduced to their digital ecosystem. Organizations can seek quick-fix solutions to address pain points, but a lack of interoperability will lead to more harm than good in handling data.

Furthermore, quick-fix solutions are highly developer-centric, meaning that every time an amendment is needed, organizations have to outsource a well-versed developer in the complex tools required for the job. This causes more delays and prevents staff from immediately and easily accessing vital, sometimes emergency, information they need.

Enter comprehensive solutions like EiPaaS

Fortunately, there are solutions designed to tackle these problems for efficient and secure data handling, and EiPaaS is at the forefront.

Compatibility is prioritized among reputable EiPaaS providers so the solution can be integrated into legacy systems without disrupting operational flows. This fortifies security so there are no lapses in flows or system failures during the integration phase. Importantly, EiPaaS technology is developed under the principle that data is not stagnant nor strictly linear. It’s designed to be scalable, matching the ebbs and flows of healthcare’s data handling needs.

Additionally, EiPaaS solutions are interoperable across existing platforms and applications, ensuring that data is efficiently converted to the appropriate format while preserving its integrity.

A robust solution will also be compliant with regulations like HIPAA, GDPR, and DISHA, via advanced security measures. Moreover, EiPaaS platforms have traceability and transparency capabilities via audit trails so all data transactions, sources, and destinations are logged.

Finally, EiPaaS is developed to be user-friendly, with features like drag-and-drop tools, so employees across an organization can use the technology and make updates on the fly. It also processes and provides real-time insights so healthcare providers can make immediate decisions based on up-to-date patient information.

A doctor would never put a band-aid on a fractured leg. Technology has to be treated the same way. Quick-fix solutions are not designed to solve the root cause of the problems that occur across the length and breadth of an organization’s data network, which is why healthcare providers often find themselves throwing in more tools to keep up with their evolving needs. That’s why a comprehensive solution is the way to go.