By Malik Chambers, Civitas Networks for Health
SS&C Health is revolutionizing health care solutions, collaborating with health plans, pharmacy benefit managers, and providers to drive success in an ever-evolving industry landscape. With a rich history spanning four decades, SS&C Health has been instrumental in optimizing operations and scaling care strategies through its expertise, technology, and comprehensive services.
A cornerstone of SS&C Health’s commitment to innovation lies in its exclusive partnership with the renowned Johns Hopkins ACG® System (Adjusted Clinical Group System). As the exclusive licensed reseller to health plans in North America, SS&C Health leverages the ACG® System’s sophisticated population health analytics to provide actionable insights that address patient care needs, integrate social determinants of health (SDoH), and measure health equity. By combining clinical logic with predictive analytics from claims data, SS&C Health enables stakeholders to make informed decisions and drive tangible improvements in health care delivery.
Introducing the ACG® System and its Academic Roots
The ACG® System developed and refined over three decades by the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, is technology that has a rich legacy of academic rigor and empirical validation. What sets it apart is not just its longevity, but its commitment to evidence-based practices, ensuring that every facet of its functionality is grounded in robust research and real-world efficacy.
SS&C Health’s collaboration with the Johns Hopkins ACG® System centers on the sophisticated Adjusted Clinical Groups (ACGs) methodology. ACGs, the building blocks of the ACG® System, provide a deep understanding of health status by considering variables like morbidity, age, and sex. Through ACG® categories, SS&C Health leverages data to uncover the unique health challenges faced by diverse populations. This approach recognizes that effective health care delivery is closely tied to understanding prevailing health needs within communities.
ACG® categories provide a personalized perspective on patients’ health journeys, recognizing the complexity of individual medical histories shaped by various conditions over time. The ACG® System distills this complexity into comprehensive categories, drawing from the late Barbara Starfield’s pioneering work in the 1970s. By emphasizing the clustering of morbidities, the ACG® System’s methodology proves superior in predicting health care resource utilization compared to focusing solely on specific disease. Leveraging insights from ACG® Systems, SS&C Health empowers stakeholders to make informed decisions, optimize resource allocation, and drive tangible improvements in health care delivery.
SS&C Health is an Asset to HIEs
The Johns Hopkins ACG® System presents a sustainable solution for entities seeking to utilize their data most effectively, with adaptability across systems of varying sizes. Brian Wikle, a Principal Sales Consultant with SS&C, emphasized its versatility, noting, “You don’t have to have a large number of lives within your data pool to benefit from ACG® technology. Whether it’s 25,000 or 10 million lives, this service can fit within a multitude of segments.” This technology’s scalability makes it compatible with health care systems and service providers of almost any size. Here are some of the ways that SS&C empowers health care systems through its technology:
Understanding Health Status: SS&C Health collaborates with the Johns Hopkins ACG® System, using its nuanced methodology to gain a sophisticated understanding of health status. By categorizing individuals into distinct ACG® groups based on variables like morbidity, age, and sex, SS&C Health provides deep insights into prevalent illness burdens.
Recognizing Resource Needs: Through ACG® categories, SS&C Health acknowledges the correlation between health care resource requirements and prevailing health challenges. This understanding allows for tailored interventions and more effective resource allocation.
Rapid Deployment: SS&C Health’s ACG® System technology boasts swift integration, often completing implementation within just 90 days. This ensures stakeholders can quickly access and leverage insights, accelerating decision-making and enabling proactive health care management.
Privacy and Security: The ACG® System’s on-premises software setup ensures robust privacy, security, and compliance measures. By housing sensitive health information securely within the organization’s infrastructure, SS&C Health mitigates the risk of data breaches and ensures compliance with regulatory standards.
Expert Support: SS&C Health’s team, supported by its partnership with Johns Hopkins, offers deep industry knowledge and expertise. This enables tailored solutions and unmatched support for Health Information Exchanges (HIEs) and health data organizations, empowering stakeholders to achieve their health care delivery objectives effectively.
Contributing to the Civitas Community
As a Civitas member, SS&C Health is excited about the affiliation and is eager to contribute expertise to the Civitas community, be it furthering data solutions or partnering to advance aligned policies. Being cognizant of the proactive nature of HIEs, APCDs, RHICs, and other data-led organizations, SS&C Health aims to contribute to the landscape of health data exchange by integrating Johns Hopkins’ ACG® System technology into predictive modeling endeavors. Brian’s insights bring attention to the potential of predictive modeling tools within the realm of health data exchange, signaling an exciting opportunity for innovation and advancement.
Brian further emphasizes the significance of this collaboration, stating, “What excites me the most about joining Civitas is the opportunity to drive policy change by working with ONC and CMS.” This collaboration can impact policies regarding interoperability because predictive modeling helps us understand community health data in a way that drives long-term change.” His words underscore the potential for meaningful impact on health care policy, highlighting the power of predictive modeling to inform and shape decisions that drive lasting improvements in community health outcomes.
For more information, please check out the SS&C Health website.
