Not all Data is Created Equal: The Power of Trusting Your Data

When you've spent decades in healthcare, you learn that trust in anything is fragile. Trust is the thread connecting patients and clinicians, decisions, and outcomes. But as I've watched our field evolve, I've realized that trust in data—that sprawling, ever-growing ecosystem of numbers, charts, images, and reports—is just as crucial. Trust is easily lost and painfully hard-won.

As a doctor, I know that what my patients tell me is only part of the story. I know a wealth of information is available somewhere, though not in my EMR. For instance, lab results I can't see, social determinants of health, even wearable data—that would paint a fuller, more accurate narrative. However, for clinicians, the question is always, how can I access the data I need? And if I can, can I trust it? That desire for answers drove me to join Orion Health to develop technology solutions to give clinicians the assurance I so acutely wanted.

The Power of Real-Time Data

Let me paint you a picture. You're working a busy general practice when an alert pops up: one of your complicated patients has just arrived at the local hospital ER. You know this person well—what works, what doesn't, and what risks lie ahead. And, instead of scrambling to piece together their story, you have their latest discharge summaries, and radiology and lab results, all at your fingertips. You know what's going on for them now, not what was going on for them last week. Now, you're not guessing; you're acting.

The ability to know and trust our patients' clinical backgrounds, enabling us to act confidently, is the promise of real-time data in a shared care record (or HIE). The data is comprehensive and up-to-date, allowing clinicians to trust what they see and confidently make decisions or act upon the patient based on the data. It transforms fragmented snapshots into a cohesive patient-centric story—you don't have to dig through clunky systems to assemble.

Turning the System Around

For too long, our health IT systems have focused on serving the institution or organization's needs and not the needs of the people using them or the patients impacted by them. We've adapted to the inefficiencies, learned to navigate the clutter of EMRs, and accepted the delays in accessing vital information. But it doesn't have to be this way.

Orion's Health Intelligence Platform flips the script. It serves clinicians and patients, not the system. Integrating data from diverse sources and delivering that data in real time transforms the clinical workflow. It's not just a better system; it's a system built for better care.

The power of real-time data you can trust

Picture the last time you were waiting for a train. The message board shows a delay of ten minutes. You now must decide: Should I wait ten minutes for the train, walk, or take an Uber ride to my destination? Knowing the exact duration of the delay gives you infinitely more certainty about achieving your preferred outcome. It's a perfect example of trusted real-time data in a system that serves the user. Extrapolating that experience to healthcare, it becomes clear that we should all expect much more from our health information technology. ??

Trust Starts with Validation

Let's be honest: not all data is created equal. We've all encountered reports riddled with gaps or inaccuracies. With solutions like Orion's Health Intelligence Platform, data flows where it's needed, validated, and ready for action—no manual entry. No second-guessing. It doesn't just aggregate data; it verifies its integrity. You know where it came from, who entered it, and whether it's actionable. It's a level of rigor that turns raw information into a clinician's best ally.

Balancing Privacy and Usability

Of course, trust isn't just about accuracy; it's about respecting boundaries. I've seen how delicate this balance can be— like the time a husband's vasectomy turned up in his wife's medical record during a routine pregnancy check. Systems must ensure clinicians see only what they need to see, nothing more. The Health Intelligence Platform's privacy controls are built for this, offering peace of mind that we're upholding our patients' trust while focusing on their care.

Building Trust, One Data Point at a Time

Healthcare data isn't just a collection of numbers; it's the foundation of every decision we make. To trust it, we need systems that ensure its accuracy, protect its privacy, and deliver it when and where it's needed. The Health Intelligence Platform achieves this by embracing complexity and turning it into clarity.

Trust, in data as in life, is a journey. With tools like this, we're moving toward a future where trust isn't hard-won—the system has built it in already. And that is a future worth striving for.

?For further information, contact me or visit www.Orionhealth.com

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