In this session, the panelists discussed the successes and challenges of a data collaboration between Gastro Health and Lynx.MD, and provided real-world insights into how a physician platform can harness its data to enhance patient care and generate additional revenue while maintaining compliance with applicable privacy and security regulations.
Session panelists included:
- Omer Dror, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Lynx.MD
- Rich Weissmark, Senior Vice President of Strategic Operations, Gastro Health
- Moderator: Stephen Bernstein, Partner, McDermott Will & Emery
Top takeaways included:
- Organizing and understanding patient data can require a large up-front investment, as it can be costly, time-consuming and challenging. This is often the largest hurdle in data collaborations; but once that step is addressed, the ability to harness the data for patient care and research can be exponentially valuable over time.
- Data has a multitude of uses, e.g., internally within a practice to improve patient care and externally with life sciences partners and other stakeholders to analyze trends and forge innovation (provided that data shared externally is properly deidentified, or takes the form of a limited data set that is subject to proper data-use agreements). A physician practice with curated data that can be meaningfully used will be far better positioned to discuss and negotiate value-based care and alternative payment models with various payors.
- While some data modeling focuses on just one use, the best opportunities may come from innovations that consider all of the other potential uses for the data. The specific disease states that are of interest to clinicians delivering care are often the same as those that interest life sciences companies. As a result, this is an opportunity for cost savings: collecting the data once, transforming it into separate deidentified data cuts and then using it for different purposes, which can include potential revenue-sharing opportunities relative to deidentified data sets.
- Practices that want to develop data sets and forge data collaborations should act with intention in negotiating contracts that involve data and anticipate what data they may need in the future. If practices give away data rights too soon, it may be difficult to ensure future flexibility and opportunities for that data in the future. Contracts could be with electronic medical records (EMR) companies, pharmaceutical companies and various vendors, so practices should review these contracts closely and try to keep options open for future opportunities.
- Healthcare data is inherently sensitive and heavily regulated. In addition to putting strong data-governance policies in place that support Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) regulations, companies looking to build a data strategy should make sure to consult with legal counsel in developing a plan to use the data. Data privacy and security, deidentification, the creation of limited data sets, data rights, and the level of trust between a physician platform and its data-sharing partners should all be considered before attempting to form a data collaboration.
- Innovative use of technology and associated data use can be a differentiating factor in recruiting younger physicians who are excited about being able to deliver the best evidence-based care to patients. In addition to the recruitment value of the technology and innovative data use, well-organized data can also be used to leverage more efficiency from centralized care teams, particularly given current healthcare labor shortages.
