The Integrated Healthcare Association (IHA) Releases New White Paper Highlighting Insights from the First Year of the Symphony Provider Directory

SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 18, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The Integrated Healthcare Association (IHA) announces the release of its new white paper highlighting valuable learnings and insights gathered during the inaugural year of the Symphony Provider Directory implementation. The Symphony Provider Directory, which launched in January of this year, serves as California's centralized online platform for provider data management, and is a result of collaboration among stakeholders across the healthcare industry, including plans, providers, purchasers, regulators and others.

To date, IHA has solidified a strong foundation for the Symphony Provider Directory with more than 90 provider organizations and 11 health plans actively onboarding, including Blue Shield of California, Anthem Blue Cross, and Aetna.

IHA's first Symphony white paper sheds light on how the platform simplifies the traditionally costly and burdensome provider data management process and enables plans and providers to hold each other accountable for improving the information that consumers depend on in health plan directories. Improving the accuracy of this information can also have positive implications on other internal business processes such as network management, credentialing and contracting.

"Symphony has made great strides this year in onboarding some of California's largest plans, provider organizations and purchasers," said IHA President and CEO Jeff Rideout, MD. "IHA and its stakeholders are committed to improving the quality of provider directory information to help consumers make more informed decisions about their coverage and care. It's only through collaboration that we're able to solve complex industry problems that one organization alone could not accomplish." 

Key insights from the inaugural year of Symphony include the importance of:

• Accelerating growth with strong network of participation among California's largest healthcare entities
• Accommodating complex contractual relationships in compliance with state and federal requirements
• Meeting organizations where they are to demonstrate business value and actionable improvements while driving best practices over time
• Defining standard data quality metrics and facilitating data reconciliations between plans and providers

Due to current data challenges and the dynamic nature of provider data, a typical plan can have thousands of unique records in disagreement -- for example, based on an analysis of over 475,000 provider data records, nearly 30,000 records contained at least one major provider identification issue. Understanding and cataloging where these data conflicts are enables Symphony to support organizations in making targeted and impactful improvements throughout the onboarding process.

As more data is shared with Symphony, IHA has been able to identify and help plans and providers prioritize data reconciliation efforts that have historically generated consumer confusion. Early results have been promising -- for example, after the soft launch, the percentage of practitioners incorrectly excluded from a plan directory improved by 17% on average.

Funded by a $50 million grant from Blue Shield of California in 2016, Symphony strives to help participating organizations improve their member directories in compliance with federal and state compliance requirements, such as Senate Bill 137. While the initial data metrics are promising compared to its 2018 soft launch, additional work remains to further define and standardize data.

"Provider directories play a vital role in helping enrollees navigate the health care system," said DMHC Director Shelley Rouillard. "It is exciting to see the progress made by Symphony in its first year as IHA continues to work with plans and providers to streamline and improve provider data. I encourage all health plans and providers in California to join this industry-wide effort, which ultimately leads to fewer obstacles for Californians to receive care."

Thanks to a strong start in 2019, Symphony continues to accelerate on its path to becoming self-sustainable by the end of 2022. In 2020, Symphony will begin expanding to additional provider organizations, independent practices, ancillary providers and other facility and plan types.

The Symphony Provider Directory white paper is now available. To obtain a free copy, please visit www.symphony.iha.org/whitepaper.

For more information or to schedule an interview, please email Daniel Howell at [email protected].

About the Integrated Healthcare Association (IHA)

Integrated Healthcare Association (IHA) brings healthcare together to solve industry-wide problems that no one can solve on their own. As a member-driven nonprofit, IHA convenes diverse stakeholders to promote the continuing evolution of integrated healthcare. We use objective data and insights to align California's healthcare industry around the best ways to deliver high-quality, affordable and patient-centered care. Founded in 1994 and based in Oakland, California, we're guided by a board of industry-leading health plans, physician organizations, hospitals and health systems, and representatives from purchaser, consumer, academic, pharmaceutical, and technology organizations.

SOURCE Integrated Healthcare Association

Related Links

https://www.iha.org

WANT YOUR COMPANY'S NEWS FEATURED ON PRNEWSWIRE.COM?

440k+
Newsrooms &
Influencers

9k+
Digital Media
Outlets

270k+
Journalists
Opted In

GET STARTED