Having just returned from Azara's Massachusetts DRVS User Group meeting, I can assure you that infectious enthusiasm is on the rise.
Greg Augustine, vice president of operations, wasn’t even half-way through his presentation on new features in DRVS before the shout-outs began, with ‘fabulous’ and ‘this is really great.’
Many heads were nodding in approval, for example, at a preview of a new scorecard panel, with information specific to the user. “Everyone watches their own scores,” Augustine acknowledged. With the customizable scorecards, “We want to make it so that users can look at only the measures they want,” Augustine added.
New PCMH reports with patient-level detail provide DRVS users with “a handy way of getting patient population information without bothering IT,” said one client, while another added, “It’s very nice-- otherwise we would have to run NextGen reports.”
Indeed, the line between what DRVS can do and what might have been part of an EMR is one to watch—which is why the Azara Community is asking DRVS users what they think about it! Jump into our group forum to add your two cents.
“We’re not walking away from the heart and soul,” Jeff Brandes, Azara’s president, told the group. “For us to be successful, we have to change as the needs of our clients change.”
Crowd-Pleasing Developments
Azara is “really trying to listen to clients in terms of getting to the detail needed for reports,” said Augustine.
It was wonderful to watch the collaboration happening live, and obvious that DRVS users are engaged because of the larger picture, of using data to transform health care and improve outcomes.
The addition of UDS Table 6a and changes to UDS Table 6b, now allows users to click on an individual service rendered and easily view the underlying patient-level detail
The clear favorite among new features: an ability to correlate and see how a health center’s EMR data sources are mapped to the data elements that are used within DRVS. “This is a great idea; we love this!” one person shouted.
The new enhancements are all about better planning for potential conditions, and have led to a “No missed opportunity report” that really got the group fired up.
“We’re excited,” Augustine said, humbly acknowledging the response. “Together, we’ve done a great job with compliance, and we want to help users operationalize and drive value.”
“People tend to be visual,” said Heather Budd, former chief operating officer at Blackstone Valley Health Care Centers in Rhode Island, who has worked the Mass League of Community Health Centers and Azara to guide the product. “People tend to be visual,” she said. “Thinking about the whole patient and not individual conditions makes it much more operational.”
New DRVS Developments in a Nutshell
* On-screen release notes
Because DRVS is a ‘cloud-based’ product, Azara can issue periodic updates to its clients’ systems. The next release is scheduled for December 17th; users can learn more about updates in the release notes at the bottom right of their DRVS home screen.
* Updated user guide
As Azara brings more health centers onto the platform, it is working to make DRVS as user-friendly as possible. The company has updated its utility bar with feature support at the point of perplexity,.
* Also new in the 12/17 release:
Enhanced PDF exports of clinical registries
* And coming soon (late January, early Feb.):
- Improvements to patient registry
- Attribution and empanelment reports
- Single Patient Report
Pulling into High Gear
This release will put DRVS into operational mode, enabling users to run smaller and yet more comprehensive reports, such as patients assigned to usual providers (PCP), along with the rendering provider. The ability to run reports by provider, or by which patients are expected to come in that week, puts DRVS beyond the realm of a compliance tool. It will also be customizable by location to assist in assuring the continuity of care.
“The more people do Medical Home, the more providers that might be attached to a patient,” Augustine said.
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Were you present at the Massachusetts meeting? I look forward to hearing about your DRVS initiatives! Please comment below or email me with thoughts, questions, needs and success stories. Follow me on Twitter for daily updates: @LauraBSmith1.