The electronic health record system, based on a model from the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, used information technology to identify and analyze patient population and generate alerts and notifications for medical providers, as well as letters to patients. Tested during a three-year period beginning in 2015, the system resulted in a 48{50531db320f8e8a316d79d6a285e47c71b6e4f6739df32858cb86474d7e720e9} increase in vaccinations for a specific adolescent vaccine in a two year span.
“I’ve always been interested in helping our care teams improve the standardization and quality of care. Technology and informatics have great potential for helping to improve the quality and experience of care for patients, in addition to lowering costs by reducing waste and analyzing populations to improve the health of our communities,” says Naik.
Innovation in health care, Naik says, has its challenges: “Health care has been steeped in traditions. … The health care industry is definitely in need of some transformations to keep up with the times.”
The pandemic, Naik says, has accelerated the introduction and implementation of technological facets of health care, “breaking down some of those barriers to achieve these goals on a faster timeline.”
There will be a learning curve, Naik asserts, as it is crucial to uphold the quality of care patients are receiving even as health care models evolve.