ITWorks Annual Report

2020 ITWorks annual report

State of the union | Cerner ITWorks today | COVID-19 response | Client profiles

Cerner ITWorks today

Client profiles

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A community of industry leaders

Today, Cerner ITWorks serves 28 Cerner Millennium clients, including academic, pediatric, community, global and IDN organizations that range from 49-2,700+ beds. Our clients continue to receive national accolades, which reinforce the long-term value of our relationships.

Who we are

Through Cerner ITWorks, we align closely with our clients to provide the talent, quality and value they expect from their IT investments. Our strategic outsourcing business offers peace of mind. We handle the day-to-day IT operations so employees can focus on what they do best — taking care of patients. Together, we create a new strategy to help our clients grow and compete.

85%

CHIME Most Wired orgs (2020 survey)

himss davies winners

at himss emr adoption model stage 6 and 7

To bring the best of Cerner to bring out the best in our clients.

We seek for our clients to be exemplars in their communities and the industry as a whole.

our mission

our Vision

1,900

Cerner ITWorks associates

support our clients every day

450+

additional Cerner Support associates

or 25% more resources working on behalf of ITWorks

clients

interviews & podcasts

stories

presentations

ITWorks clients have reported Cerner response to COVID-19 from day one. Our ideas are helping Cerner clients all over the world.

The

power

community

stories

interviews & podcasts

presentations

MOHAP uses web form to gather data from private hospitals, improve nationwide COVID-19 response

Palomar Health staff prepare for reopening in midst of COVID-19

Training providers remotely helps Genesis Health System safely expand telehealth visits

Einstein Healthcare Network proactively engages high-risk patients amidst COVID-19 pandemic

MoHAP: Monitor, track, prevent: A holistic approach to the COVID-19 pandemic

MU Health Care providers use telehealth to screen potential COVID-19 patients

Yavapai Regional Medical Center builds tents to triage COVID-19 testing

Health systems convert college sports facilities into COVID-19 field hospitals (Rutland Regional Medical Center and Lowell General Hospital/Circle Health)

Children’s National: Pediatric hospital leads the way in providing COVID-19 care

CoxHealth uses innovative technology to provide care during pandemic

Circle Health turns to Ring cameras and other technology to help manage COVID-19 pandemic

Documentation tool helps Genesis Health providers improve charting efficiency during the COVID-19 pandemic

Podcast: Strategies for uplifting staff morale during COVID-19 (Amy Hoey, Lowell General Hospital/Circle Health)

Podcast: Reopening hospital services during COVID-19: Two executive takes (Gaspare Calvaruso, Capital Region Medical Center, and Jonathan Curtright, MU Health Care)

Podcast: The importance of nursing leadership during a pandemic (Einstein Healthcare Network)

Podcast: Recognizing health care IT heroes on the front lines of COVID-19 (Dick Flanigan, Cerner)

Blog: ‘Preparing for the worst, praying for the best’ – Q&A with a CMO on the front lines of COVID-19 (Raymond DeCorte, MD, East Jefferson General Hospital)

Blog: Q&A: How can health IT leaders prepare for a surge in COVID-19 patients? (Alec Williams, Cerner)

ACHE webinar: Operating in the new normal – response and looking toward recovery (Children’s National Hospital and East Jefferson General Hospital)

Scottsdale Institute: Operating in the new normal - Response and looking toward recovery

Scottsdale Institute: Mobilizing workstreams from surge capacity to supply chains in response to COVID-19

COVID-19: Lessons from the field

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COVID-19 response

Rapid implementation helps Adventist Health manage capacity amid COVID-19 surges

State of the union

Working together to meet challenges today and tomorrow

COVID-19 is a watershed moment — a cultural reset — both for health care and our society. At Cerner, we have ongoing conversations with clients and industry partners to determine which changes will be lasting. Here are a few of the trends we believe will likely continue: (Click below to learn more)

Finding efficiencies with data and analytics Greater emphasis on social determinants of health More consolidation Government as the top payer Federal funding for infrastructure States in need Easing of regulations Embracing telehealth Customer relationship management for health care Real-world data and discovery Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning refinement

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The American Hospital Association (AHA) estimates a total four-month financial impact of $202.6 billion in losses for America’s hospitals and health systems, or an average of $50.7 billion per month. Despite four stimulus packages and a reported fifth on the way, these funds may not fill the revenue gap for health systems. With decreased revenues, negative operating margins are becoming all too common, and health systems are responding with deep cost cutting while seeking efficiencies. COVID-19 calls for new ways of looking at patient activity, community spread, capacity projections, personal protective equipment (PPE) supply, etc. Timely reporting sourced from near real-time data and analytics may play a role in accelerating your recovery and helping you better understand how to efficiently allocate available resources.

The disproportional impact of COVID-19 on minority populations, combined with increasing public awareness of systemic injustice, has exposed long-standing inequalities in health care. The industry must have a greater urgency in addressing social determinants of health both clinically and operationally to make health equity a reality.

An April survey from the Primary Care Collaborative and The Larry A. Green Center showed that half of primary care practices were unsure if they’d have enough cash to keep their practices open. The fee-for-service business model caused immediate financial distress for practices. These organizations may look for a lifeline from nearby health systems that are also searching for cost-cutting opportunities. More rural hospitals will seek partnerships to survive, and telehealth services will extend networks of coverage in an asset-lite approach.

With higher unemployment rates, commercial insurance enrollment is predicted to decrease while self-pay, exchanges and Medicaid enrollment may increase. This payment shift may negatively impact your margins. We could see increased calls for continued federal support to fill the cost gap, along with increasing pressure to expand Medicaid in states that have not yet expanded coverage.

For the first time in the modern health care IT era, the federal government is looking to expand funding for public health infrastructure. In support of improving health equity, the government will expect your organization to contribute more data and remain accountable for community outcomes.

To date, Congress has allocated $150 billion in COVID-19 emergency funds to state and local governments, territories and tribal areas. Still, governors are asking for an additional $500 billion in federal aid to close budget gaps. With falling tax revenues and rising unemployment, state budget shortfalls are predicted to reach nearly 10% in the 2020 fiscal year and more than 20% in 2021. Officials will be forced to make tough choices, including significant cuts to Medicaid benefits for patients and payments to health providers.

Under the emergency declaration, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have relaxed longstanding regulations to encourage telehealth. Adjustments in payment parity, location flexibility, visit type and cross-state provider credentialing allow more flexibility for providers. CMS also provided enhanced and accelerated payments to providers. While the durability of these changes is unclear, it could ease the entry of new business models.

Telehealth has expanded more in the past 10 months than in the past 10 years. Within days, health systems and providers hurried to offer new telehealth services. While some drop-off is inevitable with the reopening of clinics and offices, this method of virtual care is here to stay. Primary care practices largely benefit from this shift. Many providers, especially in rural areas, will strive to meet demand for specialist care, behavioral health and patient monitoring in virtual settings. Hospital-at-home management services are no longer a novelty.

With pressure on margins and reduced utilization of inpatient care, more consumers will turn to ambulatory venues. Truly knowing your patients and their health needs will be essential. Successful providers will foster more consumer engagement and embrace new ways to increase operational efficiency and care quality.

Electronic Health Record (EHR) data has the potential to illuminate disease prevalence, social determinants of health and the efficacy of COVID-19 treatments. While traditional clinical trials were disrupted by stay-at-home orders and social distancing, EHRs can offer near real-time, post-market surveillance in support of drug discovery and deployment. EHRs may also play a key role in vaccine safety, administration and clinical effectiveness in line with the FDA’s Real-World Evidence Program. We can collect real-world data from sources like EHRs, mobile devices, disease registries, and claims and billing information without the need to go to an office or trial site. This digital approach, in turn, could speed up development timelines.

While the promise of artificial intelligence (AI) remains, the field of AI and machine learning will tighten as the market has increasing expectation of clear, demonstrable value. AI offerings with appropriate funding and clear returns on investment will emerge as winners. The first half of the year 2020 has taken turns that no one could have imagined. The months ahead are bound to challenge your health system as you adapt to the long-term impacts of the pandemic and assume the public responsibility to challenge unjust social norms in service of equitable practices and guidelines

Learning from you

Where to place your bets?

In reflecting on these “bets,” what do I see as the future for Cerner ITWorks? Our focus is to deliver excellent, reliable IT service so you can focus on recovery. We will continue to learn as a community to chart a path through and beyond today’s COVID-19 environment. To help us operate efficiently and smoothly as possible, it is so important to update your systems to the most recent code and plan how you will transition to the cloud. This work will help us respond quickly to changing circumstances and keep your system as secure as possible. Several of your organizations — including Children’s National Hospital, CoxHealth, University of Missouri Health Care and Truman Medical Centers — have joined Cerner Learning Health Network to contribute de-identified data to clinical research studies. For decades, we have imagined the enormous potential of data-driven research, and I’m excited to see this program come to life. I hope you’ll consider joining us in this new endeavor. I want to reinforce our commitment to Cerner ITWorks as a true learning community — not just for information technology (IT), but for health care. I had a memorable moment with a client a few weeks ago. He thought he was having a meeting with an IT vendor. We ended up talking about the ways we could help his organization become more competitive in his marketplace. Being part of Cerner ITWorks helps position your organization for success in the face of unknown challenges. Our strategic services aim to increase your capacity to focus on your most important priorities during and after the pandemic. Our relationships have helped you quickly build an infrastructure for COVID-19 care, a remote workforce and telehealth. Going forward, our shared commitment to technological, operational and financial excellence will help you plan for the expected (and unexpected) challenges to come. This is the power of the Cerner ITWorks community. We promise our community will be a source of confidence — and hope — for the future.

Ben Hilmes, MHA, FACHE Sr. Vice President Client Relationships

A source of confidence and hope

This year, we are also having important conversations about longstanding racial and social inequities. Many of you are making significant progress in creating diverse, equitable and inclusive cultures, and we are learning from you. At Truman Group, for example, we will have a panel discussion on this complex subject with Denice Cora-Bramble, MD, MBA chief medical officer and EVP of Ambulatory and Community Health Services, Children’s National Hospital, and Ken Levitan, incoming chief executive officer, Einstein Healthcare Network. We’ve designed our health IT platforms, combined with analytical and reporting capabilities, to frame contextual understanding around social determinants of health. They help your organization understand how race, poverty, educational attainment, crime, housing status, access to transportation and other factors impact an individual’s well-being. Cerner remains committed to developing technology and services that collect meaningful data to inform decisions in this space. We are ready to help you solve these and other socioeconomic challenges in the years to come.

Analyzing inequities

Michael Leavitt Former Secretary U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

If a pandemic hits our shores, it will affect almost every sector of our society, not just health care, but transportation systems, workplaces, schools, public safety and more.”

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I’ve had the privilege of spending most of the last few years at Adventist Health in California. There, I learned one of the most important lessons of my career. The leaders, clinicians and staff at Adventist Health reminded me about the importance of not just the physical health of an individual, but also of their spiritual and emotional well-being. In many ways, our most important job is giving people love and hope. In these uncertain times, we, at Cerner, promise to help you and your team deliver hope for your patients, your employees and your community. We are committed to your success and helping you reimagine a more hopeful, healthier future.

We have learned a great deal by working with you on numerous COVID-19-related projects, including setting up: • Alternative care sites • Telemedicine/telehealth capabilities • Work-from-home infrastructure for staff • Testing centers and the ability to quickly share results Organizations that were hit by surge volumes — including East Jefferson General Hospital, Einstein Healthcare Network and Westchester Medical Center — informed how Cerner responded around the world. Our shared learning and collaboration in Cerner ITWorks prove that the power of community is stronger than one can accomplish alone.