Integrating Healthcare Services

This well-intentioned claim has killed more provider-focused healthcare startups than any other: "We'll integrate with any EHR!" The reality of healthcare integration: Epic integration isn't just technical – It's political. Without App Orchard certification, you're facing 6+ months of custom work per client. With it, you still need local IT champions and competing priorities. Cerner's domain model creates fundamentally different data structures across implementations. What works at Intermountain won't work at Ascension without significant customization. Meditech/CPSI/Athena customers often lack the technical resources to manage complex integrations – regardless of what your sales team promises. HL7 isn't a standard – it's a framework. Each organization implements it differently, with custom segments, Z-segments, and proprietary extensions. FHIR readiness varies wildly – Most health systems have implemented just enough to meet Meaningful Use requirements, not enough to support your full workflow. The operational blindspots: Integration governance means your solution competes against 50+ other projects. Interface engine capacity is a finite resource you didn't budget for. Testing environments that don't match production. Downtime procedures you didn't design for. This isn't just a technical challenge. It's a market architecture problem that must be solved pre-sale. The most successful healthcare technology companies don't have the "best" integration – they have the most pragmatic implementation strategy that aligns with how health systems actually work. If your deals are stalling during implementation, let's diagnose the real issues. #healthcareintegration #implementationstrategy #ehrimplementation

The Overlooked Connection Between Climate and Health When most people think about the relationship between climate and health, they picture two scenarios: natural disasters like hurricanes or wildfires, or asthma triggered by air pollution. But the impact is far broader and often hidden in plain sight. Climate change is reshaping the health landscape in ways many of us don’t consider: 🍎 Changing weather patterns are affecting food supply, leading to malnutrition and higher rates of diet-related diseases. 🤧 Warmer temperatures and higher CO2 levels are extending pollen seasons, intensifying allergies and respiratory conditions. 🧠 Climate-related stressors like heatwaves, displacement, and food insecurity are contributing to rising rates of anxiety, depression, and PTSD. 🥵 Prolonged heat exposure, especially for outdoor workers, is increasing the risk of chronic kidney disease. 🍚 Elevated CO2 levels are reducing the nutritional value of staple crops like wheat and rice, affecting global nutrition. 🦟 Warmer climates are expanding the range of mosquitoes and ticks, leading to more cases of diseases like malaria, Zika virus, and Lyme disease. This isn’t just a future issue—it’s happening now. Yet, many people still don’t connect the dots between a warming planet and their own health. As healthcare professionals, policymakers, and advocates, we need to shift the conversation. This isn’t only about protecting the environment; it’s about protecting lives. The solutions we implement to combat climate change—clean energy, improved air quality, sustainable agriculture—can directly improve health outcomes. What are some ways you think we can better communicate the health impacts of climate change? How do we move the discussion beyond disasters and asthma to include the full scope of risks—and solutions? Let’s keep this critical conversation going. #ClimateAndHealth #PublicHealth #Sustainability #neef National Environmental Education Foundation (NEEF)

Why climate (in)action is a public health emergency - reflections from COP29. Earlier this week I attended the global health day at COP29 in Baku - This year's climate summit again underscored the urgency of addressing the climate crisis. It’s clear we’re not moving quickly enough. Climate change is a health crisis as much as it is an environmental one. It is worsening inequalities and disproportionately impacting the most vulnerable. Health and the effects that climate change have on people's health can no longer be separated or ignored. Key themes from this year's discussions align closely with global health priorities. Here are three takeaways: 1.   Securing sustainable financing: At the signing of the Baku COP Presidency’s Continuity Coalition for Climate and Health today, governments, international organizations, financial institutions and civil society explored pathways for scaling up financing and operationalizing the COP28 Guiding Principles for Financing Climate and Health Solutions. The discussions covered financing needs, opportunities, gaps, and the development of an ambitious roadmap for climate and health finance. While every nation has a role to play, wealthier countries must step up by committing to ambitious climate finance goals—and delivering on them. Experts estimate we need $1 trillion annually to respond effectively, and the cost of inaction will only grow. We need to advocate for stronger and sustained financing goals and a commitment to meet them. 2.   Building climate-resilient health systems and investing in the workforce: Strengthening climate-resilient health systems is critical to ensuring care during extreme weather events and other disruptions. Investments in early warning systems, robust supply chains, and primary health care are essential to meeting these challenges. Equally important is training health care workers to respond to climate-driven health conditions, including new disease patterns, food and water insecurity, and mental health needs. 3.   Addressing shifting disease patterns and emerging threats: Climate change is driving the spread of diseases like malaria and dengue into new regions, posing significant challenges to health systems. These shifts require strengthened surveillance systems, early warning mechanisms, and data-driven responses. At the same time, climate change is exacerbating antimicrobial resistance (AMR), a major threat to global health. Addressing these risks will require investments in research and cross-border collaboration to improve preparedness and response. The urgency is undeniable, but so is the opportunity to drive meaningful change. Let’s work together to ensure climate finance reaches those who need it most, and to build a healthier, more equitable future for all. COP29 Azerbaijan HealthEquity World Health Organization Wellcome Trust Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Novo Nordisk Foundation The World Bank #ClimateXHealth #GlobalHealth

Where Is Behavioral Science in the Global Health Response to Climate Change? The World Health Organization has just released its draft Global Action Plan on Climate Change and Health. It’s a big step: a formal strategy to guide countries in adapting their health systems to climate threats. The plan is wide-ranging and ambitious. It calls for integrating health into climate policy and climate into health systems. It lays out bold goals for climate-resilient facilities, early warning systems, and cross-sector coordination. But here’s what’s missing: the role for behavioral science. In the 20+ pages, there isn't an explicit reference to the science of behavior—the field that tells us how people actually make decisions under stress, uncertainty, and environmental threat. And yet, so much of what the plan aims to achieve depends on people changing behavior. Let’s take a few examples: - Caregivers adopting new heat-avoidance routines to protect children. - Households adjusting water usage during drought. - Health workers adopting clean energy technologies in clinics. - Communities trusting and responding to climate-related health alerts. These aren’t just policy or infrastructure problems. They’re behavioral challenges. And that means we need behavioral tools—like social norms diagnostics, risk framing, behavioral nudges, and participatory co-design—to address them effectively. Behavioral science can help people adapt to a changing climate. Here’s what I’d like to see in the next iteration of the WHO plan: -A clear role for behavioral science in capacity building and program design. -Indicators that track not just health outcomes, but behavioral readiness and uptake. -Guidance on how to integrate behavioral insights into communication, infrastructure, and service delivery strategies. There’s precedent for this. WHO’s WHA76.7 resolution already calls on countries to institutionalize behavioral science in their health systems. This new climate-health plan should build on that momentum. Climate change is already altering how people live, work, migrate, and care for their families. Lets designing health interventions for a climate future with full understanding how people will respond. Here is a great example of behavior change intervention that enables mothers to respond to climate change: https://lnkd.in/gHZkHHYu. We need more such excellent examples of interventions illustrating how behavioral science can contribute to climate change adaptation. #BehavioralScience #ClimateHealth #GlobalHealth #HealthPolicy #BehaviorChange #SocialNorms #WHO #HealthSystems #ClimateAdaptation #ImplementationScience #Equity #ClimateResilience #CommunityHealth Temina Lalani-Shariff

The graveyard of healthcare innovation is filled with technically brilliant solutions that couldn't integrate with the systems clinicians use every day. I've watched promising MedTech companies pour millions into product development only to hit an adoption wall when they discover their solution can't access the data it needs or share insights with other systems. By the time they realize interoperability isn't just a technical feature but a fundamental business requirement, it's often too late. The hard truth: in today's interconnected healthcare ecosystem, your technology is only as valuable as its ability to exchange data seamlessly across the continuum of care. As value-based arrangements expand, now covering over 50% of Medicare members, isolated solutions simply cannot deliver the coordinated care and measurable outcomes these models demand. In today’s newsletter we explore Pillar 4 of the VBMT framework, and discuss how data architecture and interoperability can transform integration from technical hurdle to a strategic advantage.     ___________________________________________ Sam Basta, MD, MMM is a pioneer of Value-Based Medical Technology and LinkedIn Top Voice. Over the past two decades, he advised many healthcare and medical technology startups on translating clinical and technological innovation into business success. From value-based strategy and product development to go-to-market planning and execution, Sam specializes in creating and communicating compelling value propositions to customers, partners and investors. His weekly NewHealthcare Platforms newsletter is read by thousands of executives and professionals in the US and globally. #healthcareonlinkedin #artificialintelligence #ai #valuebasedcare #healthcare Vivek Natarajan Tom Lawry Subroto Mukherjee Rana el Kaliouby, Ph.D. Rashmi R. Rao Paulius Mui, MD Avi Rosenzweig Deepak Mittal, MBA, MS, FRM Elena Cavallo, ALM, ACC Chris Grasso  

One of the challenges that many healthcare organizations face is how to make the huge volume of data they generate work for them. Uses depending on the organization include research, clinical operations, clinical trials, learning health systems, business research, innovation, development, strategic planning and decision making, policy planning etc. Some have figured it out but many still struggle with being ‘data rich but insights/wisdom poor’ due to poor data strategy to aggregate data across sources, data structures and types, multiple practices or institutions, fragmented technology systems, multiple EHRs, connecting non-clinical data etc. This publication on NIH’s All of Us Data and Research Center which summarizes the principles and lessons learned from creating an ecosystem for biomedical research. The guiding principles, the multilevel access for a balance of transparency and privacy, and use of published standards including HL7 FHIR, OHDSI OMOP CDM Standards for health data and the Global Alliance for Genomics and Health standards for Genomic data, are part of industry best practices. https://lnkd.in/eKdEVhcq Links to learn more about each standards are included (in addition you may like this amazing introductory video to HL7 FHIR by Russell Leftwich MD FAMIA at this link https://lnkd.in/epQrRYdV). Kudos to the NIH All of Us teams, participants, and contributors for the ongoing work and taking the time to share their experience with the community. #datamanagement #biomedicalresearch #interoperability #healthcareinformatics #dataanalytics #realworldevidence #datascience #innovation #researchanddevelopment #learninghealthsystems #aiandml

Cleaning Up Healthcare’s Data Diet: From Junk to Quality Insights  By Vanessa Candelora, Senior Consultant & Gravity Project Program Manager Healthcare’s data quality crisis is a growing concern—bad data leads to bad outcomes. Vanessa highlights why governance, consistency, and collaboration are key to fixing interoperability challenges. ✅ Key takeaways: 🔹 Bad data = bad outcomes – Poor data quality undermines patient care & decision-making. 🔹 Regulations alone aren’t enough – TEFCA & CMS rules enable data exchange, but governance ensures quality. 🔹 Six pillars of data quality – Accessibility, accuracy, completeness, consistency, contextual validity & currency. 🔹 The cost of doing nothing is high – Providers, payers, and patients all suffer from errors and inefficiencies. 🔹 Industry is stepping up – Efforts from PIQI, Sequoia Project, and POCP are leading the charge to improve data integrity. Want to be part of the solution? Join workgroups, align governance frameworks, and leverage standards like FHIR to drive meaningful change. Let’s make healthcare data work for us, not against us. https://lnkd.in/eRuinchg #HealthcareData #Interoperability #DataGovernance #FHIR #TEFCA

In recent years, the healthcare industry has undergone a profound transformation, with the integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) emerging as a revolutionary force. AI, through its advanced algorithms and machine learning capabilities, is playing a pivotal role in reshaping various facets of healthcare, from diagnostics to personalized treatments and overall patient care. One notable application of AI in healthcare is in diagnostics. Machine learning models are trained on vast datasets, enabling them to recognize patterns and anomalies in medical images with a level of precision that was previously unattainable. Studies have shown that AI-driven diagnostic tools can assist healthcare professionals in identifying diseases such as cancer and diabetes at earlier stages, significantly improving the chances of successful treatment. Moreover, AI is proving instrumental in personalizing treatment plans for patients. By analyzing diverse patient data, including genetic information, lifestyle factors, and treatment responses, AI can generate tailored therapeutic approaches. This not only enhances treatment efficacy but also minimizes potential side effects, marking a shift towards more targeted and patient-centric healthcare. The integration of AI has also led to significant advancements in predictive analytics. Healthcare providers now leverage AI algorithms to analyze patient data and identify individuals at a higher risk of developing specific conditions. This proactive approach allows for early interventions and preventive measures, potentially reducing the overall burden on healthcare systems. Beyond diagnostics and treatment, AI is streamlining administrative processes, optimizing resource allocation, and improving overall efficiency in healthcare institutions. Natural Language Processing (NLP) algorithms, for instance, facilitate seamless communication and data extraction from electronic health records, reducing the administrative burden on healthcare professionals and enhancing the quality of patient care. The integration of AI in healthcare is not merely a technological evolution but a transformative revolution. The amalgamation of data-driven insights, machine learning algorithms, and advanced analytics is fostering a new era of medical innovation, where precision, personalization, and efficiency converge to redefine the standards of healthcare delivery.

Integrating AI into healthcare is a must if we are to work smart in this healthcare crisis, despite some initial concerns from nurses about whether AI would supersede their decision-making processes. Since 2018, nurses at Aurora, Colorado-based UCHealth have been using AI to detect sepsis, saving thousands of patients' lives. "The statewide Virtual Sepsis program analyzes 2,000 patients a day for early signs of the complication, notifying nurses and physicians when they should take a closer look." By alerting nurses to at-risk patients two to four hours before this deadly complication, this AI tool reduces patient mortality by 30% or more. AI's predictive analytics capabilities are a game-changer in patient care and offer a promising future for improved patient outcomes. Nurses need all the assistance they can get to handle unrealistic workloads and insufficient support. AI has the potential to enhance the support available to nurses, helping to alleviate some of the challenges they and their patients face. The key is integrating AI in a way that supports and enhances nurses' skills rather than replacing their critical human touch. Thoughts? #nursesonlinkedin #nurseinnovation #nurseleaders #nurses #healthcareinnovation

To anyone trying to get housing and services for older adults — in particular senior housing — right, I would suggest they read what Jake Rothstein of Upside says about fusing housing and health care. But remember to add community to the mix, too. As Jake wrote in a recent article (https://lnkd.in/e8uMSTT9), housing and health care “have long operated in silos, each with its own priorities, stakeholders, and systems.” That needs to change. When they come together, you have senior housing that includes proactive, preventative management of chronic conditions as well as a focus on factors like diet and exercise that improve resident health. But that alone won’t produce the great outcomes that we’re looking for unless residents also feel a sense of purpose and belonging and connection at a real, personal level. Senior housing must create and foster community among its residents and staff to be truly successful. It’s a Venn diagram — one that informed our work at Nexus Insights — where the overlap of all three elements produces the best results.  And to be clear, I am not saying that Upside is missing the community aspect. They get it right. I just want to make sure that any conversation inspired by Jake’s smart article discusses community, too.   When all three factors come together, senior housing produces healthspan, adding not just more years to life, but more life in those years.  cc: Dr. Bill Thomas