CSC's Integrated Health InformationArchitecture: the IS for your IDS - Computer Sciences Corp - Special Supplement: Real Solutions for Integrated Delivery Systems

Health Management Technology, Feb, 1995

Integrated delivery systems incorporate a host of very different components, previously considered opposing entities on the healthcare playing field. These components -- the providers, the payers, the hospitals -- all bring to the integrated delivery system table their own legacies of information needs and solutions. This creates one of the very real challenges to the development of an integrated delivery system -- the integration of information systems technologies.

There are a wide variety of options available when it comes to vendors for this vital piece of the IDS puzzle. Few vendors, however, offer the depth and breath of products and services offered by Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC). From business process reengineering to facilities management, CSC brings all the pieces together.

Industry experts agree that managed care is here to stay. It is quickly becoming the cornerstone of the future of healthcare delivery. For this reason, a company with a core competency in managed care and a vast array of IT resources, such as CSC, is the most reliable source for meeting the information system needs of a developing IDS.

For years, as the concept of an integrated delivery system has grown from vision to reality, CSC has been growing its spectrum of products and services to the healthcare industry. Formerly known as Comtec, CSC Healthcare Systems, a company of Computer Sciences Corporation, has been providing IS solutions to the managed care industry for more than 20 years. From its original product offering of a single HMO information systems solution, CSC Healthcare Systems, along with Computer Sciences Corporation, has developed a full suite of IS products and services. Called the integrated Health infor-mation Architecture, this comprehensive network of solution components is capable of meeting the needs of a changing healthcare marketplace.

CSC's Integrated Health Information Architecture seeks to develop interchange, integration and interfacing between all of the disparate application software needed to support today's complex integrated delivery systems. A seamless application environment offers the potential for building complete clinical and financial data repositories that can be accessed through a single access point using a product such as CSC's Focal Point[TM] Decision Support System. For information vendors, the movement towards integration and the emergence of new delivery models in the IDS arena have translated into a new focus for systems development. It is no longer sufficient to excel in information systems for one facet of the delivery continuum, but rather it has become necessary to address the information systems requirements of the entire continuum. CSC Healthcare Systems has developed and is developing software and applications to address the broad range of needs faced by integrated delivery systems, including provider support, managed care administration, data analysis, etc. Coupled with its extensive service offerings, these products create the company's total systems solution. Some of CSC's services include:

Business Process Reengineering -- CSC's staff of Business Consultants is available for consultation on a host of issues relating both to healthcare and to business in general, including redesign of both operations and management processes as well as reengineering implementation.

Management Consulting -- Change is the one constant in healthcare today, and CSC's consultants can help ease the pain it brings. Our consultants can partner with your management team from start to finish, helping formulate your company's business strategy and information technology plan as well as assisting with technology assimilation and on-going change management.

Systems Integration -- CSC's proven implementation strategies and experience as a systems integrator offer a start-up PHO or MSO peace of mind as it develops into a more fully integrated delivery system. CSC can work with your existing computing environment to develop new applications for increased efficiency and effectiveness.

Custom Development -- CSC has a history of continuous investment and response to changes in the healthcare industry. As the saying goes, "When you've seen one healthcare delivery system, you've seen one healthcare delivery system." Each of CSC's clients operates care in very unique ways. For that reason, CSC provides our customers with customized application and system development. This flexibility has helped to make us the leader in information systems for managed care and is paramount to our success in the integrated delivery system marketplace.

EDI/Network Integration -- The electronic interchange of data is certainly a primary component of an effective information system for the next generation of managed care organizations and integrated delivery systems. CSC offers a host of electronic data transfer options including referrals, claim transmission, authorizations, on-line claim adjudication, case management and enterprise-wide access to patient data.