MRO Collaboration Featured by KLAS Research for Reducing Payer/Provider Friction and Improving Quality Outcomes

MRO, CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield and LifeBridge Health map non-standardized clinical data into one unified longitudinal medical record enabling both payer and provider to track patients across care settings and boost HEDIS quality measures.

NORRISTOWN, Pa., April 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- MRO Corp., a clinical data exchange company, is honored to announce a new success story released today by KLAS Research's K2 Collaborative, formerly the KLAS Research Payer/Provider Initiative. The goal of the K2 Collaborative is to "reduce friction and waste by facilitating trust, collaboration, and alignment between payers, providers, and HIT vendors" according to KLAS.

By working together with CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield (CareFirst) and LifeBridge Health, MRO facilitated significant outcomes including:

• Improved CareFirst annual HEDIS quality measures by an average of 63%.
• Outperformed control group physicians in five quality measures.
• Mapped patients longitudinal record across settings and over time.
• Ensured data integrity was maintained in the validated data stream in compliance with the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) Data Aggregator Validation Program.

The project, which spanned three years, addressed two significant challenges in payer/provider workflow: siloed patient data made it difficult for LifeBridge providers to have a complete clinical picture and the limited clinical data received by CareFirst from LifeBridge providers hindered the plan's ability to meet HEDIS quality metrics. MRO served as the vendor partner throughout the successful collaboration project to:

• Aggregate data from multiple EHRs and create a longitudinal medical record for each member/patient.
• Ensure data was primary-source validated as a NCQA Data Aggregator Validation Partner.
• Create governance groups and conduct regular meetings to steer efforts and ensure program advancement.
• Provide education and support including a dedicated implementation team, a customer success manager assigned to both the payer and provider organizations, and;
• Minimize provider burden to participate in CareFirst's value-based care programs and other quality initiatives

"It is essential for all those involved in a patient's care to have secure access to one unified medical record to achieve better health outcomes," states Brian Wheeler, vice president, provider collaboration and network transformation at CareFirst. "Our participation in this initiative opened new doors for payer and provider collaboration and we hope our success together ushers out some of the industry's long-standing concerns about clinical data exchange."

Dr. Daniel J. Durand, chief clinical officer at LifeBridge Health, concurred, saying, "Seeing the results of our physicians who directly participated in the study versus those who were in the control group is encouraging. We're excited to implement these findings across the whole organization and to continue our work with MRO to build new bridges and benefit the healthcare industry for years to come."

"This study is just the beginning. While the clinical data exchange we implemented with CareFirst and LifeBridge Health has immediate quality benefits, the same type of payer/provider collaboration must continue to ensure both parties immediately identify patient risk and implement timely patient interventions across all care settings," says Sanket Baralay, Chief Innovation Officer, MRO Corp.

"We commend KLAS Research on their work to reduce friction between payers and providers in healthcare through the K2 Initiative and look forward to many more successful case studies in industry collaboration," Baralay concludes.

About CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield
In its 85th year of service, CareFirst, an independent licensee of the BlueCross and BlueShield Association, is a not-for-profit healthcare company which, through its affiliates and subsidiaries, offers a comprehensive portfolio of health insurance products and administrative services to 3.6 million individuals and employers in Maryland, the District of Columbia and Northern Virginia. In 2022, CareFirst invested $24.1 million to improve overall health, and increase the accessibility, affordability, safety and quality of healthcare throughout its market areas. To learn more about CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield, visit our website at www.carefirst.com and our transforming healthcare page at www.carefirst.com/transformation, or follow us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or Instagram.

About LifeBridge Health
LifeBridge Health is one of the largest, most comprehensive providers of health services in Maryland. LifeBridge Health includes Sinai Hospital of Baltimore, Northwest Hospital, Carroll Hospital, Levindale Hebrew Geriatric Center and Hospital, Grace Medical Center and related affiliates. For more information, visit lifebridgehealth.org.

About MRO
MRO is accelerating the exchange of clinical data throughout the healthcare ecosystem on behalf of providers, payers and users of clinical data. By utilizing industry-leading solutions and incorporating the latest technology, MRO is helping providers manage and release clinical data. With a 20-year legacy and as a 9-time KLAS winner, MRO brings a technology-driven mindset built upon a customer-first service foundation and a relentless focus on customer excellence. MRO connects over 200 EHRs, 200,000 providers, 35,000 practices, and 900 hospitals while extracting more than 1.3 billion clinical records. For more information, visit www.mrocorp.com.   

Press contact information:
Stephanie Kindlick
MRO
(610) 994-7500, ext. 1353 
[email protected]

SOURCE MRO