Blue Eagle: Understanding the software and business of healthcare for impactful optimization

Hospitals and health plans are a critical part of the overall healthcare system around the world. Seasoned and experienced professionals in healthcare can do wonders with their service and there’s always a constant demand for them by healthcare centers. With digitization, centers require professionals who are compatible with their services as well as the various steps of digitization.

We bring to you Blue Eagle Consulting, a company that needs no introduction. Launched in 2004, Blue Eagle provides resources for hospitals and health plans. Your requirements for senior-level highly experienced consultants and professionals are satiated for both healthcare and IT/business markets. Since the company’s foundation, it has seen a lot of changes in the industry and has progressed along. Today, Blue Eagle has many clients and strategic partners in which they cater to by providing senior-level subject matter experts.

The reputation that Blue Eagle has built is simply stunning with its absolutely outstanding highly-experienced professionals. In a gist, when you partner with Blue Eagle, you step in with low effort and low risk and go back with high returns. In an interview with the CEO- Mark Griffin, we learned so many things about data analytics, the market landscape and how Blue Eagle is outshining in the industry.

Here are the excerpts from the interview:

Cloud and data analytic services providers are thousands in number. So how do you maintain your stand in the market?

We have become valued partners with an increasing number of niche focused, cloud-based analytics providers. Our software specific data extract/reporting developers provide major Hospital/EMR enterprise level systems (Epic, Cerner, McKesson, Meditech, etc.) whose data is needed for analytics. We help our partners bridge the data transmission/mapping needed from within their client’s enterprise software. For those times when speed+accuracy are critical, we relieve them of requiring highly specialized skills and experience to build these “data feeds.”

Today, it’s the era of advanced tech. Do you think it is mandatory for companies to embrace AI and VR to improve business efficiency?

Honestly, my answer is no. Software and analytics tools have become more and more sophisticated. So I wouldn’t use the word “embrace”; they made that choice when they purchased it. I think a better word is “master” or “become proficient” in the use of technology. AI and VR are sophisticated tools and come with a tremendous burden of time and expertise to fully implement and benefit from their use. We don’t see everybody embracing the tech and more specifically, we don’t own technology and we don’t develop it. But we provide people, resources, and knowledge to help use that tech. That is where we are a valuable partner. Whether based on time or bandwidth, we can almost immediately provide a specific type of highly skilled and experienced Subject Matter Experts (SME’s) “when and how” a client may wish to engage them. The quality and benefits impact is immediate and yet the budgeting of time and effort is flexible per the client’s priorities.

Exports download routines for the Data analytics and cloud tech can work wonders, but still, most of the analytics professionals believe that the biggest challenge is to educate people about what data can do for you. Do you agree?

Yes, absolutely. It is very rare that a customer can implement and use all of a solutions capability in the first year. That is a testament to the sophistication of technology today, but it comes with a reality check on the manpower and expertise required to optimize its benefits. We have also seen our business shift tremendously, especially with EHR, where a lot of “Big Bang” projects were needed. Today, everybody has their data digitized and we’re helping them enhance patient care and workflow benefits. It takes not only people that understand the complexity and the capability that software, but also to understand the business side of it. And that’s exactly what we do best! For instance, we help to provide a nurse who’s been in the hospital for 10-15 years and also has 5-7 years of Epic software experience doing implementation workflow.

Larger the data, bigger the problems. How do you manage to overcome the security issues?

That’s the other burden, you know. First and foremost, we only bring vetted, trusted and time-tested individuals to the table when dealing with HIPPA compliance and client confidentiality data. Then, we work hand-in-hand with our clients to adhere to their established security procedures and technology requirements and protocols. Lastly, we back it all up with contracts, screening, oversight or vetting policies to ensure that what is expected is committed to and confirmed in writing. It also depends on organizations- some of them have extremely well-grounded security and we just help them in the above-mentioned areas. We’ve also seen our need to have adherence in processes is much greater than it was 5-10 years ago.

Let’s talk more about Blue Eagle. Can you share the solutions you provide?

We are known as a “low effort/risk, high value/benefit” professional services partner to Health Plan and Provider organizations. Our clients are often in a pinch…they don’t have skilled people or the bandwidth to achieve something that is very critical and time sensitive. Moreover, they want to be confident that we can be trusted in the areas of results and people. We have a proven record of providing only senior level resources with expert software and business skills. Our revenue is about 50% direct with Health Plans and Provider organizations, 20% with large partners, and 30% with a new and unique service line, which we developed three years ago – contact nurses to perform clinical reviews for Health Plans (Prior Authorizations, Grievance & Appeals, Behavioral Health, and Audits).

What according to you is the next big thing in data science?

That’s a million dollar question! With everything digital now, we have a dual-edge sword. On one side, it is a huge opportunity for analytics; optimizing/predicting outcomes, improving the patient experience, better managing disease, and so on. However, on the other edge, it positions a much greater burdenon security and protecting patient confidentiality. I think the advancement of “ancillary” or “complementary” technology to address both is already coming. I’d expect us to see some very significant stuff done in the next five years with analytics and data.

The Pioneering Innovator

Mark Griffin, Founder & President

A graduate of Business Administration from UNC Kenan Flagler School of Business, Mark Griffin began his career in healthcare IT sales. He joined MAI/Basic Four in 1980 and became the #1 healthcare salesperson. Griffin advanced levels of management to eventually becoming General Manager of the US Healthcare Business Unit in 1990. In 1993, he moved to Alabama as the CEO of Physicians Practice Management software company to successfully affect a turnaround and sale. That led to several CEO positions with Venture Capital-backed healthcare software companies and startups. In 2004, he started Blue Eagle Consulting and is the principal and owner.

“It's kind of a niche thing that honestly, if it weren't for us in the health plan IT professional services business for 15 years, we've probably would have never seen it!”