Cognosante
Transforming Health IT Systems with Optimal Information

With the healthcare industry under constant change, “Challenges such as developing, managing and implementing complex healthcare information programs and infrastructure are putting a great pressure on this industry,” says Michele Kang, CEO, Cognosante. Headquartered in McLean, VA, Cognosante provides services and solutions to address the challenges of health organizations in both public and private sectors.

Cognosante has a core focus on three areas of healthcare: health consulting; analytics and integration; and operations. “We put the best minds on health to transform health IT systems for optimal information sharing and unparalleled results,” says Kang. The services and solutions of Cognosante modernize Medicaid programs and health systems, lower administrative costs, improve quality, optimize shared services and streamline ICD-10 transition, all the while curbing fraud, waste and abuse.

The company boasts a suite of products best suited to deliver solutions in these aforementioned areas. The eSanteTM MITA SolutionTM provides support for Medicaid Management Information Systems (MMIS) architecture projects and Medical information Technology Architecture (MITA) State Self Assessments. eSante MAGI-in-a-BOXTM provides single, stream-lined eligibility determination, while supporting State Partnership Exchange (SPE) or State Based Exchange (SBE) models and helps reduce the implementation time, impact to state staff and implementation costs. eSante SmartStreamTM, a real-time intelligent health information delivery solution, assists in extending Health Information Exchanges (HIE); it eliminates fragmented data to identify useful data and quickly analyzes multiple data streams. eSante ARMSTM provides a complete case management system, streamlining audit and recovery efforts while improving compliance and investigation command and control. Working closely with national leaders who shape the future of healthcare reforms, Cognosante supports important initiatives such as MMIS, HIE, health insurance exchanges (HIX), the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) compliance and the 10th revision of the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD-10) to serve numerous clients ranging from federal and state to local customers. The company’s primary federal focus is the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, with a significant portion of effort dedicated to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).

At the state level, the company has supported 48 states and over 90 percent of state Medicaid programs.

As an example of Cognosante’s innovative client work, they are assisting the state of Nevada’s HIE and its physicians improve physicians’ ability to schedule follow-up appointments after patient discharge from the hospital or emergency room through timely notification integrated into their workflow. This follow-up enables a seamless transition of care, can reduce the 30-day hospital read missions rate thereby improving health outcomes, and renders eligible physicians to receive incentive payments from CMS. Targeting a designated population of physicians, the HIE worked with Cognosante to design a system to move beyond simple physician notifications and deliver actionable information in real time. Upon patient discharge, SmartStream extracts data from a real-time HIE feed to immediately notify the physician through Direct secure message as well as sending a link to the physician’s Direct secure account via email or text for quick access. Through follow-up requests to acknowledge actions, SmartStream tracks action taken and sends reminders as needed from the time of discharge to completion of the follow-up appointment. Dashboards and reports allow tracking of discharge volumes and physician responses to enable optimization and help in the evaluation of system effectiveness to include growth in HIE usage. The Nevade HIE is now working with Cognosante to develop a plan to extend SmartStream across the entire network.

Cognosante believes that the healthcare industry is ready for better administrative and quality-based services, and Cognosante’s employees are excited to continue their path as leaders in healthcare information technology. “Consumers today need more answers. Newer analytic tools and enterprise data strategies allow new ways for us to mine data for populations’ health and comparative effectiveness results,” asserts Kang.