When considering Virtual Care Services, healthcare providers should establish a list of key criteria for comparing the various offerings available in the marketplace. Patient enrollment, for instance, is an often-overlooked yet vital component of a successful program, and the top VCS vendors handle for the provider. That’s because without robust program participation, nothing else really matters.
Next is the quality and consistency of monthly services provided, plus regulatory compliance (adhering to guidelines from CMS and HIPAA). And don’t forget the proven performance of the Care Coordinators involved, both from a clinical and soft-skills standpoint. Providers are entrusting patient access to a third party that better be qualified and trustworthy!
Still another key consideration is the functionality and security of a vendor’s workflow platform – which, in fact, goes a long way towards addressing most of the above concerns. The ability to accurately, efficiently and securely update a patient’s most sensitive personal information is critical for program success (and required by law, for that matter).
Secure, scalable technology
Our platform, iCare® by HealthXL®, is premised on security, hosted by Amazon Web Services to achieve data security, redundant backup and infinite scalability. At the risk of getting too far into the technical weeds, here are some of its general data security specifications:
Storage: Non-database storage (logs, images, etc.) on Amazon S3 services with replication/backup.
Security: AWS Network Firewall with outbound traffic filtering and active inspection of inbound traffic flow; AWS Web Application Firewall to filter malicious web traffic; and AWS shield for Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attacks and network layer attacks. The network architecture employs multiple security zones/layers with minimal-access criteria, ensuring users can access only the data which matches their level of authorization.
Data Access: The platform’s architecture itself is both vertical (which modules can be accessed) and horizontal (which practices and patients can be accessed) and implemented using user roles. This minimizes storage required and limits access/visibility to PHI purely on a need-to-know basis.
Patient trends (and any deviations from them) are easily tracked on iCare, as shown above.
Bringing logic to remote care
In addition to robust security features, iCare meets similarly demanding standards as an intuitive, insightful workflow tool for our Care Coordinators, ensuring our remote clinical services match the exemplary standards of a provider’s in-office care. Some key features include:
Workflow built on “transactions”: The transaction concept drives iCare® by HealthXL®’s patient interaction and is the core of maintaining current, personalized Care and Treatment Plans. Transactions have steps, which have questionnaires, which in turn have questions and prompts. And those have responses (checkbox, single choice, multiple choice, free form, etc.). The plans are not uploaded to a provider’s EMR until the full, monthly transaction is complete, ensuring accurate, timely and comprehensive data for each patient.
Insurer compliance made easy: iCare® by HealthXL® captures all the work done on patient transactions, removing any ambiguity from the billing process. There’s no questioning whether CMS-mandated minimums for interaction under each CPT code are being met – the data’s all there. And we’ll provide as much or as little billing assistance as desired, whether the invoice goes to Medicare or a private insurer.
Accessible within all major EMR platforms: All these bells and whistles are great, but if the Care and Treatment Plans are not easily accessible, 24/7 by the provider and patient, it’s all for naught. In fact, this is a required CMS standard. Upon transaction completion each month, the latest Care or Treatment Plan version is securely uploaded to the agreed-upon location within the provider’s EMR. There’s no new software to learn, no new workflows or even a platform to access. We keep it simple.
Continuous process refinement: Perhaps most importantly, our Care Coordinators routinely provide real-world feedback, ensuring iCare® by HealthXL®’s questions and prompts consistently provide the most informative interactions possible with patients, while capturing all necessary data.
A platform and a partner
Having been involved with virtual care from the beginning, HealthXL® understands the critical role a software platform plays in patient wellness. Thus, iCare® by HealthXL® has evolved just like the rest of our business workflows. For instance, our Care Coordinators will always stress getting a true sense of how their patients are feeling, which often goes beyond readings on devices, and they make sure these sentiments are reflected in the EMR. In the past, this non-clinical yet crucial data could sometimes go overlooked.
These innovations underscore how iCare is continuously evolving to ensure we facilitate the best possible patient care. Get in touch with us if you’d like to know more about iCare® by HealthXL® or our holistic approach to remote patient care.