West Virginia University Health System (WVU Medicine) is comprised of 23 hospitals and the state’s largest health system and largest private employer. Like many other hospitals, WVU Medicine’s PHI auditing was challenged by fragmented patient data across various clinical systems and applications. They needed a cost-effective solution that could unify and simplify their privacy auditing processes.
Building on 14 years of continued partnership, their choice was Haystack™ iS, a comprehensive patient privacy monitoring solution that seamlessly consolidated audit trails from WVU Medicine’s EHR document management systems, clinical labs, and various other healthcare applications to provide a more holistic view of protected health information (PHI) access across their entire organization. “It used to take us a lot longer to review multiple audit logs, because we had to run separate reports for everything,” shared Miranda Brown, Enterprise Privacy Manager at WVU Medicine. “With Haystack, we can run one audit for all our applications, which cuts down on the review and gives us a better picture of what’s going on.”
An AI-Driven Approach
Adopting Haystack iS also meant WVU Medicine could now leverage artificial intelligence (AI) to scrutinize every instance of PHI access, greatly enhancing their ability to identify potentially suspicious activities, and proactively prevent a patient privacy breach. “Before Haystack iS, we used to audit based on certain suspicions, like co-worker or same last name. But now with Haystack iS, it’s a more streamlined process where it’s alerting to only what is more than likely inappropriate access,” said Brown. Additionally, Haystack iS significantly reduced the number of false positives that required investigation. This efficiency allowed the privacy team to allocate their resources more strategically and proactively address privacy concerns.
Enhanced Workflows with Automation
While not a HIPAA violation, self-access is against WVU Medicine’s policy, and time consuming to effectively manage. By implementing AVA, an advanced virtual assistant within Haystack iS, WVU Medicine is automating the information gathering and review of self-access, with plans to expand to co-worker access and family access. “What I envision, is for AVA to reduce the amount of time our team spends looking at suspected issues and automate all the manual back-and-forth communication, so we can focus on more important tasks,” said Brown.
An Innovative Partnership
The partnership between iatricSystems and WVU Medicine is a testament to the importance of leveraging cutting-edge technology to address evolving healthcare challenges. It exemplifies the significance of robust vendor support and collaborative relationships in the healthcare industry. “We have a terrific support team,” said Brown. “It’s not like a typical, hospital and vendor relationship. They’re like our Co-workers.”
As WVU Medicine continues to expand its usage of Haystack iS to cover more applications and adapt to the changing healthcare landscape, it serves as an inspiring example for other healthcare institutions. By embracing innovative solutions like Haystack iS, healthcare organizations can proactively safeguard patient privacy, enhance operational efficiency, and navigate the complex regulatory landscape with confidence.