Tracking community health effectively is key to identifying health concerns, disparities amongst populations, potential outbreaks, and population trends. Public health measurements, such as the CDC establishing an automated data feed for near real-time hospital bed capacity, ensure that resources available in communities are used to their full capacity. Additionally, it helps in crises, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, to track and adjust strategies with new and emerging health dangers.
However, there can be barriers to successful data collection and examination without the proper processes in place. When operating on older, legacy software platforms, public health professionals struggle with high maintenance costs that drain resources, security vulnerabilities that leave patient information and research at risk, and difficulty sharing information safely with other professionals.
Cloud-based case management software offers a better solution to improve data integrity, ensuring that researchers have access to the information they need, when they need it.
Why Data Integrity Matters for Communities
The only way public health professionals can solve problems is by understanding the full scope of them. Data mapping, content, and documentation allow experts to see the entire piece of the puzzle—not just that people are suffering from a certain condition, but to help understand the cause behind it.
For example, Concert Health responded to a 5.9% increase in behavioural health visits in the Charlotte area by implementing EHRs and care coordination platforms (like PlanStreet) to securely share patient information with community providers.
Data integrity in health care has numerous benefits:
- Accurate Treatments: Health providers act on the most recent information, reducing the risk of prescribing the wrong treatment.
- Improves Public Policy: Up-to-date datasets help officials see where they need to focus to improve disparities.
- Reduces Spending: Because public health leaders can verify data across agencies, they can cut costs such as duplicate tests and paper copies.
- Builds Trust: When community members receive care that solves their problems, it builds trust in providers and leadership.
5 Areas Where SaaS Case Management Improves Data Integrity
Data integrity means that information must be accurate across the entire lifecycle. It must be accurate, consistent, reliable, complete, and secure. However, data quickly becomes compromised when outdated methods of collection are in place, such as manual input, paper notes, or unauthorized access.
SaaS case management software solves this issue by creating a single source of truth that's trackable across all relevant parties. Solutions like PlanStreet offer this in a convenient, scalable platform that improves data integrity in the following five areas.
1. Centralized and Trackable Version History
Public health data collection must be accessible and trackable. Epidemiologists need to understand where an outbreak occurred, and can work with healthcare providers to understand the scope of the issue faster. It's so important for the CDC to gain access to emergency department visits that 88% of them can be viewed for situational awareness within 24 hours.
SaaS public health platforms automate tracking, creating a breadcrumb trail of each piece of data incorporated into a system. Automated case linking features can help researchers connect issues faster, accelerating contact history and helping see who may have been exposed. Trackability:
- Empowers health leaders to monitor interventions, communicate issues faster, and adjust policy as needed.
- Improves surveillance for chronic diseases and environmental threats.
- Guides long-term improvements in the entire population's health.
2. Real-Time Data Access
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, the entire nation needed up-to-date, accurate access to how many people were affected at any given time. The Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 dashboard provided real-time data access on reported cases, deaths, and vaccine administration. It provided critical data to local governments and healthcare providers, helping them work better together to address community safety.
Case management software offers this same kind of real-time data access on the local, state, and nationwide levels through:
- Population-Based Assessments: Studying entire groups to allocate resources to those who are high risk.
- Standardize Electronic Forms: Ensures that researchers, healthcare providers, and more receive unified data.
- Automatic Updates: When one provider updates information on a patient, that data updates across the platform, improving case record accuracy.
3. Secure Data Management
Patient and research data must be managed carefully, particularly around protected health information (PHI). Case management software helps compliance officers maintain protocols through built-in systems within the platform, such as:
- HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) compliance
- FedRAMP compliance
- 2FA (two-factor authentication)
- Role-based access controls
- Additional state and local mandates
4. Measurable Community Impact and Trends
SaaS platforms offer built-in analytics tools. Public health officials can create custom dashboards that show real-time data on disease trends, geographic spread, and other critical metrics. This allows professionals to utilize evidence-based recommendations and resource allocations.
Analytics tools can help:
- Track Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) such as reach, engagement, and health outcomes.
- Integrate diverse data by synthesizing quantitative and qualitative data for nuanced feedback.
- Show visual progress to funders, government agencies, and the public.
5. Streamlined Paperwork and Processes
Case management software helps standardize processes, enabling community health researchers to minimize errors when it comes to collecting data and storing it. Teams can:
- Create new forms and workflows built to their specific processes.
- Automate validation and completeness checks that reject improperly formatted data.
- Reduce errors caused by manual entry by automating data in different places across the platform.
- Build, adapt, and roll out new workflows and forms quickly, staying compliant with changing public health requirements.
Centralize Your Health Information and Community With PlanStreet
Data health integrity is vital for public health professionals working to keep their communities safe. Give them the tools they need to do their best work with PlanStreet's Care Management Software. Our SaaS solution ensures data integrity through:
- Automated data validation with pre-built, configurable forms
- Role-based access controls to restrict data access to authorized users
- Regular reporting and audit features for HUD, HIPAA, and other compliance benchmarks.
- Real-time data updates to ensure everyone has the most accurate information.
Let's discuss how we can help your organization specifically and schedule a live demo with our team today.