As healthcare pushes to become a data-driven industry, we must ensure that we can connect the data from every system to make continued improvements in cost reduction, performance, efficiency and above all else, patient care. After years of automation, healthcare faces a familiar dilemma: disparate systems with similar, yet different data. Back-end and clinical systems are unable to “talk” to each other, and when they do, they aren’t speaking the same language because the data doesn’t necessarily match.

In my two previous blog posts, I covered lessons learned on our journey to GHX ePay implementation, and steps we took to gain executive support for the transition. In this post, I’ll cover another challenge that we successfully overcame – securing customer buy-in for the switch from manual credit card payments to automated electronic payments.

“How much did that procedure cost?” Simple question that is simply too difficult for providers to answer. Supply chain plays perhaps the most critical role in helping the industry get to a clear and reliable answer.

Blockchain is a digital decentralized public database that can be shared among its users. It creates an unalterable digitally signed record of each transaction, called a block. For every new transaction, a new block is created which links with the preceding block, thereby resulting in a chain of blocks; this is how blockchain derives its name. Since the blocks cannot be altered or deleted, it is an accurate repository of every transaction made in a blockchain.

In the first blog post of this series, I briefly described CryoLife’s work to implement the GHX ePay solution, the results we have achieved - including a 94 percent reduction in payment processing fees – and the top three lessons learned on our journey. In this next post, I delve deeper into one of our top success factors – securing executive support for the transition.

The 2017 annual survey of hospital CEOs conducted by the American College of Healthcare Executives revealed that financial challenges was their number one concern. Healthcare providers and executives are still trying to grapple with the shift of healthcare from a fee-for-service to a value-based model. As a result of this shift, there has been a marked decline in reimbursement from the government as well as private insurance groups.