Anthem, Inc. announced a strategic collaboration with Epic to facilitate secure, bi-directional exchange of health information between healthcare providers and Anthem’s affiliated health plans. Increasing and improving this communication will aim to better leverage data-driven insights in care decisions, simplify healthcare, and ultimately improve health benefits.
- A Strategic initiative: This initiative between Anthem, an innovation leader dedicated to improving health, and Epic, a leading health information company, leverages Epic’s Payer Platform. The secure and bi-directional exchange of data using Payer Platform involves clinical data as well as admissions, discharge, and transfer data from hospital stays. Epic’s Payer Platform will be integrated with Anthem’s Health OS, which is Anthem’s operating system to enable seamless health plan-provider collaboration.
- Seamless healthcare experience: “As an organization committed to a digital-first approach, we know that enhancing the interoperability of health data is critical in redefining the future of healthcare,” said Ashok Chennuru, Chief Data and Insights Officer at Anthem. “This effort helps bring the industry into the next step of its evolution where the right information gets to the right people at the right time – resulting in a more seamless healthcare experience and consumers receiving the care they need – where and when they need it. Our work with Epic stands to benefit more than 14.7 million consumers served by Anthem’s affiliated health plans who see clinicians using Epic’s software.”
- Better healthcare outcomes: This capability will help close clinical and medication gaps that may exist in an individual’s care. To do this, Anthem will be able to capture consumer health information provided by clinicians, analyze that data, and develop data-driven insights. These insights can then be delivered back to the care team – in near real-time – to flag potential care needs and inform treatment decisions, resulting in higher quality care.
- Improved healthcare: “By better bridging communications between providers and health plans, this connection is making it possible for patients to receive timely access to appropriate care,” said Alan Hutchison, Vice President of Population Health at Epic. “This effort will also give clinicians more time to focus on delivering care and improve quality for consumers.”
- Futuristic integration: To advance digital health and as a part of its broader Health OS strategy, Anthem will also integrate this near real-time data with claims data and health information that Anthem receives from sources such as health information exchanges, labs companies, and other partners. This approach enables providers to have a longitudinal view of a consumers’ health, helping clinicians make more informed decisions.