When John Blair founded MedAllies more than 20 years ago, he talked about doctors’ frustration with not getting the information they need.
John Blair, CEO of Medleys
A doctor examines a patient and is surprised to learn that the patient has recently been hospitalized. Primary care physicians will tell you that no information is available after a referral.
At the time, Prime Minister Blair recalls being optimistic that such problems could be resolved relatively quickly.
“I remember saying we were going to solve this problem in a few years,” Blair said.
A lot of progress has been made, but it hasn’t completely worked out. In the latest episode of the Data Book podcast, brought to you by Chief His Healthcare Executive®, Blair talks about achieving interoperability, or the exchange of health information across the industry. Mr. Blair, CEO of MedAllies since its founding in 2001, discusses progress to date and challenges ahead.
“Here I am now, over 20 years later,” he says. “And we’re definitely getting a lot closer. But it’s like going snow skiing. When you’re on the lift, you go over one mountain and you think, ‘Okay, I’m at the top.’ And it turns out that there is an even bigger mountain. And when you cross the next mountain, there’s another mountain. ”
“Yes, I’ve been in it this whole time. And I’ve seen different approaches. And thankfully, we’re making further progress. But we still have a long way to go. .”
MedAllies works with more than 100,000 healthcare providers and more than 800 hospitals to more easily communicate and exchange health information. Healthcare leaders have long touted the value of interoperability, saying patient care improves when providers and health systems can easily access needed patient information.
Prime Minister Blair said this progress should not be ignored, pointing out that 70% of the country’s hospitals are connected to some form of national network. But he says there is still complexity in exchanging information, to the detriment of patients.
“Think about having to go back for a second appointment just because you didn’t have the information,” Blair says. “And now I have to reschedule, and to make matters worse, I have to come back for a second appointment, and I have to redo the test I just recently took. That means this It’s hard to believe that something like this still happens in this day and age, but it happens far more often than you might think.”
Healthcare leaders like Blair are optimistic about further advances in interoperability with the enablement of Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Contracts (TEFCA). In December, MedAllies became one of his five organizations to achieve the government-sought designation as a Qualified Medical Information Network. These have been recognized as meeting the requirements to support data exchange under his TEFCA, which sets out guidelines for the sharing of health information.
Prime Minister Blair said he believed TEFCA would make a difference.
“This is well thought out,” Blair said. “It’s a big, massive undertaking.”
In the podcast, Prime Minister Blair spoke about why he is bullish on TEFCA, the challenges to improving data exchange and how it will lead to better care while reducing costs. He also talks about his early days building MedAllies and how his work as a surgeon influences his work as a leader of his healthcare technology company. .
