ResMed's Cerner connection

SAN DIEGO - ResMed last month announced a new agreement with one of the biggest names in health IT: Cerner. As part of the agreement, Cerner has designated ResMed's Brightree Home Health and Hospice platform as its preferred solution for its electronic health record. Perhaps more wide-reaching, Cerner has also agreed to connect other ResMed digital health platforms, including those that support its more than 10 million connectable sleep apnea and respiratory care devices, to its EHR and HealtheIntent population health platforms. Raj Sodhi, president of ResMed's SaaS business, explains why this is a game changer.

HME News: Our readers are HME providers, so the news about Cerner designating the home health platform as a preferred solution doesn't directly impact them. However, does it potentially set the stage for Cerner to designate other Brightree platforms, such as DME/HME?

Raj Sodhi: It does. As part of this collaborative agreement, we plan to explore interoperability between Cerner's Millennium EHR and HealtheIntent population health platforms and various ResMed data management programs, including Brightree HME, ResMed's AirView and U-Sleep patient management solutions for sleep and respiratory care device users, Propeller's digital health solution for COPD and asthma inhaler users, and others. Our objective for a Brightree HME-Cerner integration would be to automate the typically manual process of connecting hospitals with HMEs when patients need HME support through a hospital-to-home discharge process. The result would be a new electronic coordination between hospital and HME providers, which can ultimately translate into a better experience for the patient.

HME: What color can you add to how Cerner plans to use Brightree's Home Health and Hospice platform?

Sodhi: Cerner is discontinuing its own home health solution at the end of 2020 and recommending that all agencies currently using it transition to Brightree's. When Cerner decided to get out of the HHP software business, it sought out the best partner to transition their customers to—we're pleased they chose us. This process is underway; Cerner is currently supporting clients through the transition. The result will be a better flow of patient data so caregivers can make better decisions and improve patient care, while aiding smoother transitions between acute and out-of-hospital care settings.

HME: I'm most interested in Cerner connecting with other ResMed platforms, including its connected sleep apnea and respiratory care devices.

Sodhi: An integrated solution would allow Cerner users to seamlessly access ResMed device data within Cerner's EHR platform, enabling easier physician access to patient device data. This can lead to improved health outcomes, more engaged patients, and therefore, a higher likelihood of long-term adherence and resupply demand.

HME: Cerner is one of the big EHR vendors, but not the only one. Why align with one vendor? Does this arrangement prevent ResMed/Brightree from also partnering with, say, Epic?

Sodhi: This is not an exclusive agreement, and it does not prevent other EHR vendors from also designating ResMed's Home Health and Hospice or other SaaS solutions as their preferred solution. What it represents is a significant opportunity for ResMed to help improve the home health and hospice experience for more patients and their loved ones, at a time when the demand for both services is on the rise. This is a big step towards our strategy of improving 250 million lives by 2025.

HME: What does it say that a vendor with the scope and reach of Cerner has acknowledged Brightree's platform and ResMed's connected devices?

Sodhi: We believe our collaborative agreement with Cerner is yet another significant endorsement of ResMed's leadership in digital health and of the importance of pursuing interoperability—particularly between acute and out-of-hospital settings—to streamline and improve health care for millions. This agreement also underscores the high value that our Brightree HHP platform brings to patients and providers in the home health and hospice space.