Highmark Health Taps Google Cloud and Epic Systems for Innovative Health Data Integration

Quincy Jon, Tech Times 26 February 2024, 01:02 pm

Highmark Health unveiled a significant initiative on Monday, announcing its collaboration with Google Cloud and healthcare software giant Epic Systems to revolutionize data gathering for healthcare providers and payers.

The challenge of fragmented consumer healthcare data stored across diverse systems and formats in the United States impedes efficient access to critical information for both payers and providers. Pittsburgh-based Highmark Health, which manages a 7 million-member health plan and 14 hospitals, uses Google Cloud and Epic Systems to address this problem.

According to a CNBC report, Highmark seeks to streamline access to vital patient information by merging Epic's Payer Platform, which facilitates the exchange of patient data between payers and providers, with Google's advanced analytics and artificial intelligence. This includes upcoming visits, medical history, insurance claims, and health plan benefits.

(Photo : PAU BARRENA/AFP via Getty Images) A visitor walks past Google Cloud logo at the Mobile World Congress (MWC), the telecom industry's biggest annual gathering, in Barcelona on February 28, 2023.

Healthcare Data Storage: A Lingering Issue

The American Medical Association highlighted fragmentation in healthcare data storage as a long-standing issue in a 2022 report, which prompted calls for policy and technological advancements. Additionally, the complex task of organizing vast volumes of data within intricate software has been linked to physician burnout, as revealed in an April 2023 study published in the Journal of Primary Care & Community Health.

Highmark's integration aims to automate administrative processes, such as prior authorization and streamlining the manual and time-consuming insurance cost-control process, as the American Medical Association outlined.

Dr. Tony Farah, Chief Medical and Clinical Transformation Officer at Highmark Health stressed the integration's potential to furnish doctors with timely and actionable information, aiding informed decision-making and ultimately reducing patient care costs.

Richard Clarke, Chief Analytics Officer at Highmark Health, highlighted that enhanced access to patient data will empower clinicians to ensure optimal care, minimizing unnecessary steps such as extra visits or readmissions.

Highmark also anticipates streamlining the aggregation of clinical data from its hospitals by automating notifications about upcoming patient visits to its health plan. The integration is projected to yield significant cost savings, with an estimated $2.7 million annually from shared claims data via Google Cloud.

Although the integration promises tangible benefits, its impact on providers, the health plan, and overall patient care quality remains to be fully assessed.

Highmark plans to roll out the technology across its provider network by the end of the second quarter and to at least two Epic-based insurance carriers by 2024.

Healthcare Companies Targeted By Cybercriminals

Several cyberattacks on healthcare institutions occurred this month, showing a troubling trend. On February 21, a cyberattack that TechTimes reported disrupted Change Healthcare's network. The incident, a disruption to specific applications, swiftly escalated into a broader connectivity issue. Local pharmacies in Michigan bore the brunt of the disruption, experiencing delays as Change Healthcare took swift action by disconnecting their systems.

In a separate cyberattack incident, a French insurance payment provider, Viamedis, confirmed a cyberattack exposing data for approximately 84 healthcare providers and 20 million insured individuals. The breach, disclosed on February 2, revealed sensitive information, including social security numbers, birth dates, and health insurance details.

Viamedis clarified that bank details, addresses, phone numbers, and emails were not compromised. Customers were notified via email on February 1. While the exact number impacted remains undisclosed, Viamedis oversees payments for 84 healthcare groups covering 20 million individuals.