CareCentrix pursues 360-degree view of patients

HARTFORD, Conn. - It may seem like a concept straight out of a sci-fi film, but artificial intelligence is being used across industries, and although health care has been a little slower on the uptake, its time has come, says CareCentrix's Steve Wogen.

Wogen, chief growth officer for the company, which coordinates HME and other services for health plans,spoke with HME News recently about how the company is leveraging AI and machine learning to connect data points and, as a result, reduce readmissions and improve patient outcomes.

HME News:How can AI be leveraged in post-acute care?

Steve Wogen:Post-acute care has been based on silos where every component of the care continuum has been designed to maximize its own profit and earnings, and not the patient experience. Being able to integrate all of the diagnostic info with all the claims info with all of the individual characteristics of a patient, you are able to better match the patient to the intelligent protocols that benefit that patient and treat them as an individual as opposed to as an average.

HME:What is an example of data you can analyze to improve patient outcomes?

Wogen:By looking at the credit information of that patient to identify whether that patient has an auto loan—you know whether or not they have a car or access to public transportation. You can arrange transportation, whether it's through Uber or whether through personal care assistance. With the ability to better understand what's happening for the patient, you can match them to an appropriate provider and fill in those gaps.

HME:How is this going to create a dramatic shift in health care?

Wogen:I am not one to say clinical judgment is not always going to be absolutely critical to managing these patients. But the more data that's available, the more you can learn and the more you're able to see relationships no one could see before.

HME:With all this data monitoring, how do you keep from being Big Brother?

Wogen:That's always a concern. HIPAA, industry health plans and CareCentrix think about this every single day. The machine learning technique will get to the point where there's very little information you need to know to make a decision—you'll be able to cluster patients based on high-level, basic information but it's something that always needs to be watched and monitored, and people will always have the right to opt out.