I am noticing a trend. For the last few years, post AHOU, there has been a flurry of FOMO (Fear of Missing Out), which results in my schedule filling up with meetings from renewed interest in MIB solutions related to electronic health records. This year, the momentum was likely driven by the positive messaging that was relayed during several panel discussions at AHOU, which was held in Boston, MA the first week in May of 2024.

It is clear that the majority of people working within the life insurance industry know that electronic medical data is a faster and less expensive alternative to traditional and invasive underwriting requirements such as APS (Attending Physician Statements), exams and labs. At this point, nobody is really debating that issue.

What people are more focused on now is ‘usability.’ The definition of usability varies a bit among our customers, but generally translated, it means: How often are the electronic medical records returned actually providing the information required to perform a mortality or morbidity assessment for a particular individual.

Measuring the usability of MIB Electronic Medical Record

While MIB does not store or analyze data on every case where a record is retrieved, we do perform periodic random reviews of the type of clinical data that is captured. The following visual demonstrates the types of information that an EHR user can expect to find in an MIB record and the positive trajectory of clinical content available from an analysis comparing Q1 2022 through Q2 2024. In other words, this is a representation of the likelihood that each type of information will be found.

The types of information categorized in this analysis are the USCDI (United States Core Data for Interoperability) classes and elements that are mortality/morbidity focused. USCDI is a standardized set of health data elements and classes that allow for a nationwide, interoperable, health information exchange. More information on USCDIs can be found on the HealthIT.gov website.

Sample Analysis Details:

• Timeline of Analysis

• Cases reviewed: 114

• Data Sources

• Gender

• Ages

73% of the cases reviewed contain a minimum of six of the ten clinical categories represented

The analysis reveals electronic health records continue to improve in “usability” and are a valuable piece of information supporting an underwriting requirement strategy focused on quicker decisions, improved cycle times and a lower cost.

It is important to point out, while it may appear that the category of clinical tests, diagnostic imaging and procedures is adversely trending, there is some context required. Not every medical encounter result in a clinical test, diagnostic image, or procedure, or even a laboratory test, though most will reflect the other clinical categories represented. As such, in a sample of this size, it does not necessarily indicate that this data is becoming less available.

Factors to consider when evaluating a record’s content completeness or building rule sets:

1) While an individual’s own clinical content is often the measurement of ‘usability,’ there are other valuable pieces of underwriting information criteria to glean when assessing morality/morbidity risk. In the 2024 analysis:

2) EHR records may be as robust as traditional medical sources when it comes to significant impairments such as psychiatric disorders.

3) Urgent care visits and specialty related records such as eye exams, may yield valuable medical data that would not likely be available with other types of electronic medical data, such as claim data or RX data alone.

If your FOMO is on full alert, I encourage you to reach out for a more in-depth conversation about 1) use of electronic medical record information within your risk assessment workflows and 2) the usefulness of EHR data for various potential use cases. We offer full support and transparency as you address what is often a challenging step in the electronic medical data transformation process.

A lot has evolved within the electronic medical record data landscape within the last two years, let MIB help guide your adventure!