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As healthcare transitions toward the vision of Intelligent Health, health payers are increasingly tasked with building robust data strategies that can keep pace with evolving demands. The cornerstone of this transformation is ubiquitous data—the seamless flow of data across the healthcare ecosystem, enabling more personalized, efficient, and actionable insights.
This blog will explore how health payer CIOs can develop and execute a data strategy that aligns with the future of healthcare. We will discuss the importance of modernizing data environments, addressing interoperability challenges, and building a data-driven culture—along with how Flume can support health payers in this critical journey.
The Growing Importance of Ubiquitous Data
Data is at the heart of healthcare’s transformation. The ability to collect, analyze, and act on health data in real time is what sets Intelligent Health apart from traditional healthcare models. According to the 2024 Gartner® Essentials for Healthcare and Life Science CIOs in Data Strategy, Execution and Delivery1 research, “data is, without question, the underlying core foundation and fabric of the intelligent health vision”. Without effective data strategies, health payers will struggle to deliver the personalized and actionable insights that members expect.
For health payers, this shift means evolving beyond static reports and dashboards to embrace real-time data streams that provide continuous insights. This approach not only enhances business agility but also improves clinical outcomes by enabling early interventions.
Modernizing Data Environments for Agility and Efficiency
A modernized data environment is essential for supporting the real-time data flow required in healthcare today. Many health organizations are still reliant on legacy systems that are ill-suited for the demands of ubiquitous data and dynamic insights. Health payer CIOs must take action to modernize their data architectures by embracing cloud-based data fabrics and adopting DataOps principles.
A data fabric provides the foundation for seamless data flow, enabling health payers to orchestrate data from multiple sources, both internal and external. This architecture supports interoperability across the entire healthcare ecosystem, allowing payers to integrate and share data with providers, technology partners, and other stakeholders. According to Gartner®, “there is simply no path forward to intelligent health, ubiquitous data, and advanced insights if you are relying on an antiquated, legacy data and analytics architecture”.
In addition to building a data fabric, health payers must implement DataOps principles to ensure that data delivery is agile, reliable, and repeatable. This requires rethinking how data is managed across the organization, from structuring teams to developing the skills needed for modern data management. By adopting these principles, health payers can ensure that data flows are optimized to deliver timely insights where they are needed most.
Addressing Interoperability Challenges
Interoperability remains one of the biggest challenges for health payer CIOs as they work to execute a data strategy aligned with Intelligent Health. In healthcare, interoperability is no longer just about exchanging data between different systems—it’s about creating seamless, real-time data flows across the entire healthcare ecosystem.
While FHIR (Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources) is an important standard for enabling data exchange, it is just one example. Payers must prepare for more than just FHIR by building systems that are flexible enough to adapt to future standards and unforeseen externalities. This is where future-proofing becomes critical—health payers need to anticipate evolving regulatory requirements, new technologies, and changes in member expectations. Simply focusing on FHIR alone is not enough, as the healthcare landscape will continue to evolve with new data formats and protocols.
Flume plays a critical role in helping health payers overcome these interoperability challenges. Our solutions enable seamless data integration, allowing payers to connect with providers, partners, and members in real time. By leveraging Flume’s expertise, health payers can ensure that their data strategies are aligned with the latest industry standards, including FHIR.
Building a Data-Driven Culture
While technology is a critical component of a successful data strategy, building a data-driven culture within the organization is equally important. Health payer CIOs must ensure that all stakeholders—from leadership to frontline employees—understand the value of data and are equipped with the skills needed to make data-driven decisions.
This cultural shift involves investing in data literacy programs to ensure that every employee understands how data can enhance their work. Building a data-intelligent culture goes beyond just implementing new technologies; it requires a sustained organizational commitment to developing the soft skills necessary for cultivating a workforce that effectively uses data.
Flume can support health payers in building this culture by providing tools and strategies that foster data literacy and help teams navigate the complexities of modern data environments. Our solutions ensure that health payers are not only equipped with the right technologies but also have the organizational buy-in necessary to succeed.
Flume: Your Partner in Data Strategy, Execution, and Delivery
As health payer CIOs work to execute data strategies that align with the future of healthcare, they need a trusted partner who understands the unique challenges of data integration, interoperability, and cultural transformation. At Flume, we specialize in helping health payers modernize their data environments, integrate real-time data flows, and build the data-driven cultures needed to thrive in the era of Intelligent Health.
With Flume’s expertise, health payers can ensure that their data strategies are not only aligned with industry best practices but also positioned to deliver the real-time insights that members demand.
Ready to modernize your data strategy? Contact Flume today to learn how we can help you achieve your data-driven healthcare goals.
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1Gartner, Essentials for Healthcare and Life Science CIOs in Data Strategy, Execution and Delivery, Laura Craft, 25 July 2024 (Report accessible to Gartner subscribers only)
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