KLAS Examines Providers’ Technology Challenges During the Pandemic

Aug. 31, 2020

Healthcare organizations have turned to technology in response to the crisis, but have long-term plans been implemented?

Rajiv Leventhal

In the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare organizations have found stopgaps in many technology-focused areas, but few have successfully implemented permanent solutions that serve a long-term strategy, according to a new report from the Utah-based KLAS Research.

Researchers noted that providers are eager to learn from their peers and find fast solutions to top-of-mind technology challenges. As such, 19 executives from 18 healthcare organizations shared their status with KLAS in addressing these challenges. Some key findings include:

A little under half of respondents (8 of 19) say telehealth functionality or capacity has been their number one problem to solve during the early stages of the pandemic. The good news, according to researchers, is that nearly all respondents have a workable solution, and the rest are in the process of implementing one. Several mentioned using consumer-facing products—e.g., Apple FaceTime, Google Duo, Zoom, or Skype—that enable organizations without existing telehealth capabilities to quickly ramp up and handle increased demand. While many solutions are suitable for this emergency purpose, solutions that serve a strategic, long-term telehealth vision are much scarcer, the report found.
Remote patient monitoring (RPM) has been another major technology concern during the COVID-19 crisis. However, 13 of 19 respondents say RPM is one of the technologies they have least enhanced during the pandemic. Only four organizations report having a workable RPM solution; these organizations have implemented new systems or expanded existing solutions. Eight organizations say their RPM technology problem remains unsolved.
Four provider executives cited interoperability as their biggest technology challenge when trying to combat COVID-19. Common solutions to interoperability needs include using Epic Care Everywhere, CommonWell, and/or Carequality to connect to needed data. However, several still see gaps and want better data standards. To learn more about the status of interoperability in healthcare and EHR vendors’ performance in this area, see KLAS’ ongoing research and 2019 report on interoperability platforms, along with a 2019 update on how well vendors make outside data usable. Two more KLAS reports on interoperability are set to publish later in 2020, its researchers noted.
Meanwhile, seven respondents say they have found a workable solution for getting real-time COVID-19 data from their hospitals. While a few leverage EHR dashboards to get the real-time data they need, most load the data from their EHRs into other software solutions (e.g., Microsoft Power BI and Tableau) to either house the data or build data visualizations.

In all, when asked, “What have been your organization’s biggest technology challenges during the COVID-19 crisis?” 32 percent of respondents said telehealth, 26 percent said remote patient monitoring, 21 percent said interoperability, 16 percent noted real-time data analytics, and 5 percent said surveillance.

At the same time, 84 percent of respondents said their organization has solved the telehealth challenges they have been presented with. Comparatively, 61 percent said they have solved interoperability challenges, but just 22 percent of respondents reported that their organization has solved RPM challenges.

Overall, the areas in which technology seemed to have the most positive impact in response to the crisis have been providing ongoing community care, keeping the ICU and other COVID-related resources available, and attending to critical problems.

Also of note, 95 percent of respondents said their organization has instituted a COVID-19 crisis command center, with 95 percent saying the center has been open for at least three months.