Even though providers and payers don’t always get along, they need to come together now more than ever. In the post-pandemic landscape, the healthcare industry won’t be able to maintain care quality and protect patient access without strong collaboration between these two parties, health system leaders said during a virtual panel.

Celebrating teamwork is essential for acknowledging its profound impact on healthcare excellence. It is a powerful catalyst that fosters patient-centered care, optimizes resource utilization, nurtures professional growth, and strengthens the healthcare system.

To deliver real value in today’s highly fragmented market, healthtech startups stand to significantly benefit by working with incumbents. Rather than focusing solely on disruption, these startups working with established partners concentrate on proving demonstrable ROI, clinical value, dollars saved, better outcomes and improved healthcare economics.

As we consider the ramifications of the President’s cancellation of the Pandemic emergency, we have time to reflect on the transformation of the 3 P’s of healthcare: People, Policies and Politics.

Many health system technology executives have found that a strong digital transformation strategy requires sustained cross-department collaboration. At a recent conference panel, tech executives from UPMC and LifeBridge Health discussed why partnerships with the marketing department and analytics team are essential.

Our challenges in the health space are too daunting for any single organization to tackle alone. We need to draw from both the strengths of the incumbents and the start-ups that have emerged in recent years, whether the challenge is in navigating care, simplifying care delivery, or fostering stronger patient engagement.

The collaboration is between Los Angeles County Office of Education, L.A. Care Health Plan, Health Net, L.A. County Department of Mental Health and school-based telehealth company Hazel Health. The program will provide L.A. County K-12 public schools with access to Hazel Health’s telehealth services.

The St. Louis-based health system is collaborating with the UnitedHealth subsidiary to implement technology and processes that focus on improving care quality and reducing costs. Thousands of SSM Health employees will transition to Optum as part of the deal.

Given the growing interest specialty providers are showing in virtual visits, health plans should ensure that their telehealth offerings include consumer access to a wide breadth of specialists.

Through a program funded by Independence Blue Cross Foundation, 1,800 frontline healthcare workers across the three Pennsylvania-based hospitals will gain access to NeuroFlow’s technology, which will measure and track their mental health symptoms and provide support via educational resources and a clinical care team.

The senior care provider currently operates 34 medical centers offering healthcare and social services, like transportation. Through the collaboration, the companies will bring more seniors into value-based arrangements with the goal of improving outcomes for Anthem patients.

The pandemic made collaboration necessary between stakeholders that otherwise tend to be at odds with each other. But as partnerships grow, providers, payers and pharma companies must ensure they are working toward a clear-cut common goal, according to panelists at HIMSS 21 Digital.

Virtual care delivery can offer increased convenience and accessibility for patients. But the larger challenge is laying a foundation for innovation in health systems that enables providers to optimize their workflows and collaborate more effectively—ultimately improving patient care.

“Payvider” models — that is, collaborative arrangements between payers and providers — are growing in popularity. But not all markets are created equal with regard to payvider adoption and growth. In a new report, consultancy firm Guidehouse identifies the markets with the most opportunities for payviders.

The payer’s Community Catalyst initiative includes 23 programs that involve collaborations with various community-based organizations and health centers. They tackle different types of social determinants of health issues, including food insecurity among seniors and the health needs of those in public housing.

As an industry historically slow to adopt new technology, healthcare has flipped the narrative during the pandemic.

The health system and tech giant are more than a year into their 10-year collaboration. As their partnership evolves, the organizations are looking to create an “AI factory” — an assembly line of AI solutions that are developed at scale and incorporated into clinical workflows.

The California-based healthcare organization will work with Accenture and Microsoft to grow and strengthen its cloud capabilities. The enhancements are expected to help Kaiser provide its care teams with data insights to personalize patient care.

As 2020 draws to a close, healthcare providers are strategizing for the new year and the new normal. Providers will need to retool their telehealth efforts and prepare to meet a burgeoning mental crisis, among other issues.

The two large PBMs signed a 3-year collaboration that would allow Prime to use Express Scripts’ retail pharmacy network and pharmaceutical contracts.

The annual Ernst & Young Pulse of the Industry report shows that revenue is growing but much remains to be done in interoperability and an ecosystem that encourages collarboration.

The company, Olio, plans on using the funding to scale its technology, expand across the country and grow its marketing, engineering and customer success teams.

In a Q&A, the former U.S. chief technology officer offered his advice to health IT innovators and discussed the importance of collaboration between the public and private sectors.

Through DrFirst’s new Connected Care Communities initiative, providers can exchange patient medication information and facilitate referrals without having to use the same EHR software.

A healthcare collaboration makes life easier for the entities involved … right? Well, not always. The road to a partnership can be full of stumbling blocks.

A survey from Vocera Communications and HIMSS Analytics looks at how clinical and IT leaders evaluate and select clinical IT solutions for their hospital.