Data Consolidation Creates a Single Source of Truth for Provider Data

Today's hospitals and health systems are employing more physicians andnon-physician providers than ever before. If you're a MSP responsible forcredentialing and/or enrollment, you may be feeling frustrated by your increasingworkload. We get that. Fortunately, our team at VerityStream is in a uniqueposition to offer advice. Our experience helping more than 2,400 hospitals and1,000 medical groups with credentialing, privileging, enrollment, and evaluation,has taught us a few tips and tricks for speeding these processes up. One of themis: data consolidation.

Data Consolidation Defined

When the relevant data required for credentialing and enrollment resides inmultiple databases across different facilities—you're sure to have issues with dataredundancy and data inaccuracy. This will lead to a host of problems includingcompliance issues and poor provider satisfaction to site just a few.

Data consolidation creates a single source of truth for provider data, with oneapplication and one reappointment date across all system facilities. A physicianis in the system only once for all credentialing and re-credentialing purposes,removing the need for multiple spreadsheets and checklists. A single platformalso offers workflow management and promotes proactivity, generating remindersabout TJC, NCQA, CAQH, directory updates, and more.

3 Keys to Successfully Consolidating Your Data

Consolidating data and transitioning away from disparate systems and manualprocesses requires tremendous effort, resources, and time, but the benefitssurrounding data accuracy, compliance, delegation, enterprise reporting, providersatisfaction, and collaboration make these tasks well worth the investment. Dataconsolidation is hard work, but it's worth it! A successful transition away fromdisparate systems and manual processes requires a solid foundation, whichmeans you need:

• The right team
• The right approach
• The right tools

The Right Team: identify your champion, your leader, andyour team

Your champion

When it comes to making a major change, buy-in from the top is essential. Thisincludes buy in from top executives and operational leaders as well as medicalstaff management. Leaders can help you address any political barriers to theprocess by using their span of control and authority to clear any roadblocks.Because engaging these high-level stakeholders is key to successful dataconsolidation, your team leader should establish a formal communication calendarand plan to maintain leadership's commitment to and awareness of team progress.

Your team leader

Your project leader must be fearless about pushing the process forward;identify someone willing to be a bit of a steamroller to maintain momentum. Thisleader cannot shy away from reminding the team that their mission must beaccomplished without undue delay.

Your team

Your team will manage the core work and should be made of one to tworepresentatives from each medical staff office. These individuals should be thepeople who have historically been responsible for credentialing and/or enrollment.Because data consolidation results in forfeiting day-to-day control, their activeinvolvement in determining the future model is crucial.

Other team members should include representatives from IT and practiceadministration. The team should be prepared to meet frequently, sometimes formulti-day sessions to move objectives forward and meet timelines.

The Right Approach: discover, plan and execute

Before any work takes place, it's important for the team leader to initiate aDiscovery during which he or she has conversations with all who will be affectedby the change. These individuals and groups may be a part of the consolidationeffort or end-users of data.

During Discovery, your team leader should ask, "Why do you do what you do?"This question is designed to reveal their current processes and understand thegoals they have for implementation. For example, they may want to improve or standardize an already established CVO, consolidate their medical staff,streamline their decision processes, or revamp an enrollment function.

Discovery creates an internal document that becomes part of the project charter.It is a high-level document that helps teams measure success and get everyoneon the same page. Ultimately, Discovery informs the plan that will be executed toensure your data consolidation with a new enterprise system will meet businessrequirements.

The Right Tools: experts and solutions

Outside experts with a track record of leadingsuccessful data consolidation initiatives canhelp you anticipate problems and overcomeresistance to new ideas. These expertscan serve as trusted advisors who providerecommendations and share best practices.They often have the objectivity necessary tofacilitate agreement.

It's also important to have technical experts on board who understand datastandardization, as well as data coding and conversion. These experts can actas translators between the team and the CIO when technical discussions arerequired. Your team will have to work extensively with IT to standardize everyfield (naming conventions, mapping variations to a single term, building consistentnames for specialties, etc.). An outside expert can negotiate the process of codinglegacy system data for conversion to the new enterprise system.

Evaluate the tools

In order to consolidate your data, you'll need a scalable platform that creates asingle source of truth for provider data. As you search for the right tool, here arefew things to keep in mind:

• The cloud is cool. A cloud-based system ensures all stakeholders will have 24/7/365 access to the information they need, greatly improves the provider experience, and reduces onboarding timeframes.
• Custom software is out. Systems that deliver out-of-box, preconfigured options based on best practices are in as they accelerate implementation timelines and boost utilization and ROI.
• Software should make your life easier. Consolidating data shouldn't be a nightmare process. Today's savviest solution providers deliver software that comes pre-loaded with the data you need and use every day—like provider data for every provider in the U.S.

In Conclusion

If data consolidation had a slogan, it would be, "It's hard work, but it's worth it!"Aligning your processes with the way your hospital or health system interfaceswith providers and all the individuals who play a role in your credentialing andenrollment processes is a smart move that puts you in a position to provide thebest possible care for your patients. And, when they win—we all do!