AI and its Legal Risks in Healthcare

Ensuring Patient Data Safety in the Healthcare Industry

Of course, your patients’ well-being is paramount, but protecting their data isn’t far behind. Safeguarding your data is undoubtedly on the list.   

On the patients’ healthcare side, Electronic Health Records (EHR) systems leverage clinical alerts for allergies, interactions, and medication errors. At the same time, EHRs utilize–or should use–encryption, authentication, and authorization technologies to protect patient privacy and confidentiality. The platforms on which they operate should ensure compliance with HIPAA regulations, data backup and recovery tools, access control, and audit logging.

The Scalability and Flexibility of EHRs

EHRs should support scalability, allowing healthcare organizations to adapt to growing needs in accommodating clinical workflows, increases in patient volumes, and technological advancements. This would improve continuity of care for healthcare providers. Enhanced patient engagement features such as portals, telehealth, and remote patient monitoring foster better data exchange between patients and providers.

This seamless interaction helps break geographical barriers and patient mobility issues by providing swift access by patients to healthcare, their records, and educational resources and by promoting patients' self-serve at their convenience without having to disrupt your staff. 

Interoperability Policies and Healthcare Advancements

EHR developers and IT specialists continually update systems to comply with interoperability policies. For example, new policies for the 2024 Medicare Promoting Interoperability Program include an antimicrobial use and resistance (AUR) surveillance measure as part of the Public Health and Clinical Data Exchange Objective, a significant step forward in promoting healthcare interoperability.

Data Security

Most cloud-based EHR/EMR systems are built on an interoperable architecture for seamless integration with other healthcare platforms. This is crucial for data sharing within the medical sector, as called for by the 21^st Century Cures Act.

However, while interoperability is a cornerstone of connectivity, according to a Statista survey, about 45% of healthcare organizations experienced phishing attacks in 2021. Additionally, 17% faced ransomware attacks (including the monumental Change Healthcare attack), and 7% reported data breaches. This trend has led to the growing adoption of encrypted cloud computing, ensuring patient data remains secure and accessible despite hacking, phishing, and cyberattacks.

Standardization in EHR Systems

EHR regulations are standardized under the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC).

The ONC urges the healthcare sector to implement standardized application programming interfaces (APIs) to facilitate the safe use of smartphone applications for acquiring structured electronic health information. Integrating APIs with EHR technology improves communication between IT systems and applications that create and store medical information, enabling quick access and information exchange among authorized parties.

Robotic Process Automation in EHRs

The automated data capture market for EHRs is expanding worldwide due to enhanced workflows and increased accuracy. Robotic Process Automation (RPA) assists in achieving the requisite accuracy by avoiding manual entry requirements through robot-based automation. These platforms facilitate smoother integration with existing EHR/EMR software, offering a practical option for healthcare providers to save time by freeing up resources for essential tasks.

IoT, AI, and Voice Recognition in Healthcare

The global Internet of Things (IoT) in the healthcare market is expected to grow significantly, with AI-powered voice recognition capabilities making documenting patient encounters simpler. AI systems that use natural spoken language to understand physicians are the future, improving physician efficiency and patient treatment. Additionally, integrating natural language processing (NLP) into EHR systems enables quick examination and analysis of unstructured patient cases, assisting healthcare professionals with prompt input for critical patient cases.

Preparing for the Future of EHR

The future of EHRs is focused on patient engagement and empowerment. Patients will have expanded access to their health records, allowing them to participate actively in their care and make well-informed decisions. Advanced features like patient portals, telehealth integration, remote patient monitoring, and personalized health tracking will become standard, improving patient engagement and outcomes.

Transforming Healthcare Revenue Management with AI-driven HCC Coding

What is HCC Coding? HCC coding is a method used by Medicare to assign risk scores to patients based on their health conditions, crucial for accurate reimbursements and efficient healthcare management. The integration of AI into HCC coding, as seen for example in Advanced Data Systems' MedicsCloud EHR, enhances accuracy and reduces manual efforts.

The AI Advantage:

• Enhanced Accuracy: AI-driven HCC coding minimizes errors, leading to more precise Medicare reimbursements.
• Maximized Reimbursements: Accurate coding reflects the care provided, potentially securing higher reimbursements and boosting revenue.
• Efficiency Gains: Reducing administrative burdens allows more focus on patient care, improving overall healthcare delivery.

Advanced Data Systems' Voice AI Solutions

Advanced Data Systems is at the forefront of integrating voice AI technology into healthcare systems with pioneering solutions such as  MedicsSpeak® and MedicsListen®.

MedicsSpeak revolutionizes medical documentation with real-time, AI-powered dictation seamlessly embedded with the MedicsCloud EHR. At the same time, MedicsListen captures and analyzes patient-provider conversations, ensuring no critical information is missed.

These tools enhance efficiency, reduce administrative burdens, and elevate the patient experience by ensuring more accurate and timely care delivery.

For more information and to schedule a personalized overview, contact Advanced Data Systems at 800-899-4237, Ext. 2264, or email rcminfo@adsc.com. Visit www.adsc.com for details.