The healthcare industry is under more pressure than ever from modern patients; in the same way consumers expect a quick, connected experience when shopping or at the bank, patients are demanding value-based care that is fast, integrated, and cost-effective.
This imperative was underscored at the recent Healthcare Information Management Systems Society (HIMSS) conference where more than 45,000 healthcare information and technology professionals from all over the world converged in Orlando, Florida, seeking solutions to tackle these emerging challenges.
Real-time blood pressure data syncing
At MuleSoft’s booth on the HIMSS exhibit floor, Bits in Glass (BIG), a software consulting firm serving clients across North America, showcased real-time syncing of blood pressure data between medical devices.
The demonstrated use case was that of a dialysis patient and showed how an API strategy can provide patients, doctors, and care teams with a more complete, 360-degree view of the patient’s health while enabling remote monitoring. This approach removes the requirement of in-person exams to collect patient vitals, enabling patients to remain in their homes and avoid unnecessary travel.
Based on the rules that the patient, their doctor, or their care team configured, the demo exhibited how the system can trigger additional actions such as email, mobile, and Slack alerts, or even activate the patient’s camera.
The demo utilized API-led connectivity and linked various IoT devices to back-office records management systems. Real-time blood pressure data were collected from the patient using a Wi-Fi-enabled blood pressure device. The data was then fed to EPIC, a health information and electronic medical record (EMR) system, and also to Bits In Glass’ 360-degree patient portal, Manage My Care, built on the Appian platform.
How integrations enable healthcare’s Triple Aim
Developed by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, “Triple Aim” is a framework that describes an approach to optimizing health system performance through three dimensions:
- Improving the patient experience of care (including quality and satisfaction);
- Improving the health of populations; and
- Reducing the per capita cost of health care.
The integrations demonstrated by BIG at HIMSS make it possible for a remote care team to gain access to the most up-to-date health data about their patients, ultimately improving the care that they are able to provide.
This approach also illustrated how an API-led strategy with MuleSoft can support Triple Aim by:
- Enabling healthcare providers to gain a complete 360-degree picture of patients’ health, creating better patient experiences.
- Reducing the overall cost of care by leveraging APIs, which are reusable, and also making the system easy for patients to operate.
- Automatically syncing data from multiple inputs and automating intelligent alerts, improving the quality of healthcare.
- Enabling patients to remain in-situ while the care team can be in another location.
Using MuleSoft as the API link to these systems helped to demonstrate seamless interoperability capabilities between multiple systems, meeting patient needs for better experiences, and ultimately giving healthcare organizations an upper hand in today’s market.
To learn more about out-of-the-box APIs and connectors for health systems, visit MuleSoft’s healthcare solutions page, or download the Prescription for disruption eBook.
