Tip Tuesday: Solving the Provider Data Management Challenge

As any physician using Epic knows, the need to maintain an accurate and updated provider database is incredibly important, but it’s laborious and hard to manage with manual methods. Data accuracy and quality is a top challenge compounded by multiple sources of the truth and areas for entry into the organization’s database.

With pressures from governing bodies and evolving regulations, many healthcare organizations are looking for solutions to ensure the affiliated healthcare provider information is accurate, consistently updated, and regularly maintained. The post implementation period, while healthcare organizations are looking to optimize their investment in Epic, is the best time to address how provider data is managed as well as review its impact on various departments, physicians, and patients.

What are we doing wrong?

Many healthcare organizations find themselves reacting to the demands of maintaining a provider database through reactionary measures instead of precautionary measures. There are three bad habits to break to become a leader in provider data management:

Waiting for the information to come to you – Instead, be proactive and build your database in advance.

Using dummy or temporary provider for too long – A better approach: Replace placeholder information with reliable, accurate data to support continuum of care and accelerate claim generation.

Not managing the quality of your information - It is easy for duplicate provider entries to occur and if the provider database is not well monitored and maintained, physician communication may be affected as well as patient care.

The Problem: Manual data entry

Ongoing provider data management includes maintaining up-to-date credentials, office address location, phone, and fax information, specialty information, and many other data elements that can directly affect provider communication, billing requirements, and patient care. In many cases, the creation, validation, and maintenance of provider data is performed through manual data entry tasks, resulting in an increase in scheduling times, work queue volumes, and denials.

The solution: Automate the process!

Avaap’s ProviderSync is designed to help health organizations using Epic automate the process of creating, validating, and maintaining provider records by integrating external data sources directly into the physician database. Using an automated solution, physicians, nurses and other medical professionals can proactively review the network of affiliated and community physicians to gain easy access to accurate information, when needed, and address patient and provider needs in advance. Healthcare organizations benefit from a governance methodology that supports the quality of information and process needed to ensure successful management of the provider database. Other benefits include ongoing maintenance that strategically aligns with organization initiatives, like meaningful use attestation, community connect programs, and continuation of care.

The Value: Fewer errors, lower costs, better quality data

Proper provider data management can reduce overall labor costs related to database maintenance, re-working denials, and claim edits. The ability to find updated community and affiliated provider information and communicate accordingly and quickly with other physicians will support better service to patients and providers and maintain the continuum of care. Additionally, healthcare organizations will be able to meet the meaningful use attestation timelines and goals more easily through electronic summary of care documentation sharing.

Laura Matusow is a Revenue Cycle Solutions Manager at Avaap. Avaap EHR provides industry-leading solutions and support to help healthcare organizations using Epic as their EHR address provider data management needs. Get in touch using the form below!