Accenture to help establish policy for patient-generated health data

Accenture announced that Accenture Federal Services has been awarded a two-year management consulting contract by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) to help develop a framework of best practices for the effective use of patient-generated health data (PGHD) in research and care delivery .

The company will work towards addressing policy topics regarding PGHD – which includes a patient’s health and treatment history, biometric data, symptoms and lifestyle choices – and identify best practices, discrepancies and opportunities for collecting and using this information.

Accenture will directly oversee and coordinate pilot projects to test the implementation of topics identified in the policy framework.

“Our team is committed to working with ONC to determine the impact patient-generated health data can have as well as approaches to its implementation,” said Mary Edwards, who leads Accenture’s work with federal civilian health agencies. “Not only can patient-generated health data offer an opportunity to capture needed information for use during care with potential cost savings and improvements in quality, care coordination, and patient safety but it can provide a more comprehensive picture of ongoing patient health.”

PGHD is collected directly from patients in several ways, including through surveys and structured questionnaires as well as wearables like fitness trackers and smartwatches.

With the growing number of people adopting new technologies to track and record this data, there has become an inherent need to set policy guidelines to support and protect patient data.

As such, ONC has recognized PGHD as a crucial issue for advancing patient engagement. The PGHD policy framework project is an integral part of devising a long-term policy solution to protect patients and the security of their health records while maximizing the healthcare provider-patient relationship.

The PGHD policy framework project is one of several projects at ONC that address the data infrastructure required for Patient-Centered Outcomes Research (PCOR).

Accenture has previously supported ONC through a number of programs beginning in 2005 on the Nationwide Health Information Network (NwHIN), and since 2010 for the agency’s Standards and Interoperability Framework.

Article Topics

Accenture  |  biometric data  |  biometrics  |  data collection  |  healthcare  |  patient identification  |  pilot project  |  wearables