Redox Uses AWS to Help PointClickCare Integrate Healthcare Data

True data interoperability goes beyond the movement of data. Data being sent from point A to point B is not always structured or valuable to a system or staff. PointClickCare, an electronic health record (EHR) vendor for long-term post-acute care (LTPAC) and senior living sectors and other facilities, recognized a disconnect between hospitals and LTPAC facilities. To address this disconnect, the vendor created Harmony by PointClickCare—software that enables more structured communication and open data access to all pertinent care providers.

When a patient is discharged from a hospital and admitted into an LTPAC facility, that patient’s information is often faxed or manually provided to the facility. As a result, staff on the receiving end must manually review hundreds of pages of documents to determine and reconcile a patient’s medical and post-acute care needs. Manual and unstructured communication systems and processes can delay care and increase the likelihood of an adverse event and hospital readmission. In fact, 27 percent of hospital readmissions, which cost $11,000 on average, are preventable. As value-based care models linking payment to clinical outcomes become more prevalent, blind handoffs of patient data are no longer viable because they dramatically increase healthcare providers’ financial risks. Harmony by PointClickCare connects to a healthcare organization’s existing EHR to coordinate care and enable data sharing as a patient transitions to an LTPAC facility.

Initially, PointClickCare managed the setup of its point-to-point connections internally, but this process was time- and resource-intensive.

PointClickCare solved this challenge by turning to Redox, an Advanced Technology Partner in the AWS Partner Network (APN). Redox offers full-service integration that enables real-time data exchange across systems’ EHRs by allowing organizations to connect to a centralized platform that enables data exchange with any partner leveraging a single connection and data format.

Once PointClickCare started working with Redox, it was able to offload the configuration and management of its customers’ data connections. The Redox integration engine runs on Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2) and uses AWS Auto Scaling for automated platform scalability.

Redox also layers on an API to facilitate communication and uses a webhook or VPN to integrate a customer’s interface as it is currently configured. As a result, Redox has been able to speed traditional integration times by conforming to a customer’s existing use of data standards, as opposed to changing established specifications. “If your goal is to improve patient care and reduce rehospitalization, then you need Redox,” says Sean Vandeweerd, senior product manager for PointClickCare. “They’re doing more than just connecting you to an API—they’re delivering data that’s actionable and consumable.”

Using AWS services to remove the complexity of managing a compute environment, Redox can deliver interoperability for the PointClickCare solution while remaining in a fully HIPAA-compliant environment on AWS. In addition, Redox is using AWS to cut customers’ integration time by 80 percent.

Working with Redox, PointClickCare completed its data integration process four times faster and cut the need for in-house resources by 75 percent. “We delivered a fully integrated post-acute care solution to a health information exchange in 1.5 weeks with the help of Redox,” says Vandeweerd.

Redox can rapidly scale to support PointClickCare and several other hundred customers by using AWS Auto Scaling to grow its customers’ workflows without having to manually build new servers. Redox manages its infrastructure exclusively as code, allowing the company’s engineers to quickly and effectively build customized solutions.

PointClickCare plans to continue working with Redox as it brings its Harmony solution to additional customers. “Redox is more than just a technology provider,” says Vandeweerd. “They’re working to improve the level of care across the board through what they do, and we are excited to partner with them as we move into the future.”