The beginning of the 4th quarter provides a great opportunity to reflect on my conversations with MIB members and clients about their initiatives and challenges working with electronic medical data (EMD) over the past year, as well as the potential benefits of using the data. In a continuous effort to share information with our medical data solutions community, I have compiled some of the most popular topics of these conversations to shed light on myths and truths.

(Note: For purposes of this blog, a data aggregator is an organization that collects information from multiple data sources or multiple provider networks)

Myth #1: All electronic health records aggregators return the same information for each individual search request.

• TRUTH: Not every aggregator is connected to the same number of data sources or network of providers, therefore, the results may be wildly different. I recently had a conversation with a person who thought that her less than ideal experience with one aggregator would automatically and identically apply to all others. An easily understandable misconception.

Myth #2: All EHR aggregators are the same in terms of technology, security, and service.

• TRUTH: Ensuring that a consumer’s PII (Personally Identifiable Information) & PHI (Protected Health Information) is securely obtained and transmitted is of the highest priority at MIB. An EHR system should have extensive security measure, access controls, and audit trails to protect patient/applicant information. Proceed with caution when an aggregator of data that includes PII or PHI is willing to exchange information via email or by other less secure means.

Myth #3: All providers of electronic medical data are well versed with life insurance industry knowledge.

• TRUTH: Few providers of EMD exclusively serve the life, disability (DI), long-term care (LtC) market. ONLY MIB is 100% aligned to the life insurance industry with members consisting of the majority of US and Canadian life insurance companies and a Board made up of industry leaders. We have been the partner the industry has trusted for over 120 years to securely manage data, with unique knowledge of underwriting application and impairment activity, workflows and risk assessment behaviors for insurance. Some data aggregators have been primarily serving other industries and have simply found another revenue opportunity to sell data into our industry. And as new entrants try to compete in the insurance space, consider their motivation and long-term game plan for working with the industry.

Myth #4: Accessing EMD has one ‘ideal’ workflow option.

• TRUTH: Many carriers prefer a frictionless process that relies on the use of a HIPAA consent form vs patient involvement and reliance on a consumer/applicant to remember a healthcare portal ID and password. However, the world of accessing data is about to change in our industry in a BIG way. As the regulatory environment continues to drive improvements that support the interoperability of medical data, as well as options for the patient/applicant to control where their medical data is routed, we will continue to see improved options for access, beyond a HIPAA consent credentialing process. Individual Access systems that can authenticate an applicant’s identity using less burdensome methods present a promising alternative as well as a more favorable price point that will likely fuel adoption.

Myth #5: The EHR landscape has reached its full potential.

• TRUTH : The last several years have been highly focused on improving data access and release rates in order to optimize the potential of EHR. As these improvements take hold, we have reached an inflection point where more data equates to more opportunities to use the data in new and innovative ways within underwriting and beyond. Opportunities may open up to use the data to track experience related to mortality and morbidity (health) outcomes, placement and persistency activity, or other trends. The industry may use the data to develop new ways to connect with customers, such as providing wellness reminders. Additionally, with more choices and greater access, carriers will have the opportunity to optimize which sets of data they use to help improve processes, business workflows and ROI.

• TRUTH: Expansion of data source organizations that qualify and adopt the requirements of TEFCA (Trusted Exchange Framework Common Agreement) will continue to improve access and enhance the way data is exchanged. Access to medical data will become easier with more control options at the individual patient / applicant level and priced more optimally for operational / underwriting sensitive budgets. To learn more about TEFCA and its requirements, see https://www.healthit.gov/topic/interoperability/policy/trusted-exchange-framework-and-common-agreement-tefca.

Myth #6- #10: Data sources are deeply vetted by all aggregators with regard to fee structure, data rights, ease of doing business, technology infrastructure, and quality.

• MANY TRUTHS:

MIB’s experienced team leverages industry expertise to effectively engage with potential new data sources. While there are often headwinds when connecting to new data sources, we are in the best position possible to identify and address any potential hurdles for our members and clients. We are committed to bringing you high quality data in formats you can seamlessly ingest into your workflows and underwriting engines, and to ensuring your teams receive quick information with protective value, at a lower cost.