Oracle’s Marc Perlman: Five ways to strengthen healthcare IT in 2010
December 23rd, 2009 by JD Kathuria
For Marc Perlman, it doesn’t get more exciting than this. “We are at an amazing point in our country,” says Perlman. “This is a unique time to make a difference and change the trajectory of the U.S. healthcare system,” he says. As global vice president of Oracle’s Healthcare and Life Sciences Industry Business Unit, Perlman provides solutions across the healthcare ecosystem — to payers, providers, life sciences and biomedical organizations, and, of course, patients. Looking to be part of the solution, too? Here, Perlman offers ways to strengthen integrated delivery networks and health systems in 2010.
1.) Drive operational efficiency through a shared services environment. Decreasing reimbursement, coupled with escalating patient loads and paperwork, has created a perfect storm: About a third of U.S. hospitals are now financially unstable. Technology that helps hospitals better drive operational efficiency is a step toward a solution. The University Of Pittsburgh Medical Center found that out a few years ago. UPMC has leveraged Oracle technology to create a shared services environment that drives efficiencies in areas such as payroll, supply chain, and procurement. So has The Ottawa Hospital. “They integrated a lot of our Oracle E-Business Suite technology,” says Perlman. The result: The hospital was able to integrate over $60 million in purchases annually and save millions in procurement costs.
2.) Strengthen continuity and collaboration across the healthcare system. “In healthcare, cost, quality, and access have been the three most important tenets for many years,” says Perlman. “Continuity and collaboration will be the next two things added to that moniker,” he says. Greater collaboration will take the form of strengthening distributed care systems. Says Perlman: “Hospitals are not the best places for people to get care … hospitals need to create, or supplement, systems that provide the ability to collaborate, and be connected, with patients, and to ensure patients don’t rebound back into the hospital.” In Oracle’s case, the company looks to drive connectivity across payers, providers, the VA system, life sciences pharmaceutical companies, all the way to the bedside. Connectivity is driven from how the members of the community interact based on the presentation of shared information. Information on a patient and his or her treatment plan brings alignment between provider, payer and family support mechanisms. Family support represents a significant portion of the care necessary to prevent re-admittance.
3.) Focus innovation on security and data privacy issues. “The ability to create a secure support system for people at all sites of care has become more and more important,” says Perlman, adding, “at a minimum medications and allergies need to be shared so a decision that affects clinical care can be made at the right time and place without having to worry about security.” Oracle, he adds, is focused on innovation that fosters secure collaboration among patients, families, clinical teams, and healthcare officials. Another area of focus for the company is ensuring the security, and speed of delivery, of data warehousing and electronic medical records. “A standard data model provides efficient communication, quality, and integration that can be shared through a secure exchange platform,” says Perlman. “We are looking to provide improved security, collaboration analysis, record management, and data exchange,” he adds.
4.) Leverage open systems and standards in healthcare IT advances. “People have to take care of themselves and become empowered — technology is the tool to accomplish that,” says Perlman. Open systems are a key step toward modernizing the healthcare structure. “There is a lot of legacy out there and, frankly, the days of ‘rip-and-replace’ are gone,” says Perlman. It’s critical, he adds, for open system solutions to focus on several key fronts: security; data movement; analytical tools that foster cost, quality and efficacy of care; decision support and business intelligence. Decision support and BI is not just about dashboards and balanced scorecards; the insight gained improves processes and drives efficiency.
5.) Foster collaboration across industry. “This is a time that has created what I would call almost strange bedfellows,” says Perlman, adding, “We are a part of one coalition, for example, that’s brought together some of the largest health systems in the country; about five electronic medical records vendors; as well as technology vendors, that we compete with directly. We are working together to try to drive innovation.” It’s time to “take down the walls of competition,” says Perlman, and focus on the ultimate outcome. “The ability of putting together coalitions is vital,” says Perlman. “People need to work together, that’s a different part of collaboration that is of paramount importance right now.”
