Using Salesforce as the Source of Truth in a Multi-System Healthcare Landscape

Today's healthcare world uses many different computer systems: Electronic Health Records (EHRs), billing programs, lab systems, imaging tools, patient websites, and more. Each system does its job well, but they often don't talk to each other. This creates a messy situation where information is spread out. This can lead to slow work, uneven patient experiences, and make it hard to see the full picture of a patient's care.

In this complicated setup, having one main, reliable place for important patient information is not just helpful, it's essential. This "source of truth" makes sure all information is correct, consistent, and easy to find across all connected systems. For many healthcare groups wanting to focus more on patients and work faster, Salesforce Healthcare is becoming a strong choice to be this main source, especially for patient contact and relationship information.

This blog post will explain how Salesforce can be used as this main information center. We'll look at common ways to set up connections, how to keep information updated, and smart ways to manage key patient data to truly improve digital health.

The Problem: Healthcare's Information Maze

Healthcare organizations have a lot of data, but often struggle to use it well. Too many specialized systems, each for a different task, have accidentally created a confusing maze of information.

• EHRs are great for clinical notes, but often aren't good enough for managing full patient relationships, marketing, or reaching out to patients proactively.

• Billing systems handle money well, but don't show the whole story of a patient's journey.

• Patient websites offer limited self-service and often don't give a truly smooth experience.

  
  

This challenge in connecting healthcare IT systems causes:

• Repeated and Conflicting Information: The same patient details might be in many systems, often with differences.

• Manual Tasks: Staff waste time manually fixing information, leading to mistakes and burnout.

• Uneven Patient Experience: Patients feel like they're dealing with separate departments, which is frustrating.

• Hard to Analyze Data: Without a clear, combined view, it's very difficult to get useful insights for community health, patient outreach, or improving how things work.

• Risk of Not Following Rules: Inconsistent data can make it harder to meet rules like HIPAA.

Salesforce as the Main Source: A New Way of Thinking

Using Salesforce as the main source of information for healthcare doesn't mean it replaces the EHR for clinical records. Instead, it means Salesforce becomes the official system for all patient-focused, relationship-driven information and tasks. This includes basic patient details (the "golden record"), how they like to be contacted, past interactions, how well they follow care plans, service requests, marketing contacts, and more.

Why Salesforce is a great fit for this role:

• Focus on the Patient: Salesforce is built around the customer (or patient), making it perfect for managing relationships.

• Flexible and Adaptable: Its highly customizable nature allows it to fit many healthcare tasks beyond just clinical charting.

• Cloud-Based and Agile: Being in the cloud, Salesforce can grow easily, is always available, and updates faster than many older, on-site systems.

• Strong Connections (APIs): Its many ways to connect make it easy to link with other systems.

• Complete Set of Tools: With Health Cloud, Marketing Cloud, Service Cloud, and Experience Cloud, Salesforce offers a full set of tools for patient engagement, care coordination, and efficient operations.

  
  

By putting patient relationship data in Salesforce, healthcare groups get a complete 360-degree view of each patient. This helps them connect with patients in a personal way and offer proactive care.

How to Connect Systems with Salesforce in Healthcare

Connecting Salesforce into a complex healthcare environment needs a clear plan for healthcare IT integration. Here are common ways to set up these connections:

1. Hub-and-Spoke Model

In this popular setup, Salesforce acts as the main "hub" for patient relationship data. All other department or clinical systems (the "spokes") connect to Salesforce.

• How it works: Information mainly flows between the spokes and the central Salesforce hub. For example, patient details from the EHR might go to Salesforce, and patient engagement notes from Salesforce might go back to a patient website.

• Benefits: Centralized control over data, simpler connection rules (each system only needs to know how to connect to Salesforce), and better data consistency.

• Things to consider: Needs strong middleware or an Integration Platform as a Service (iPaaS) to manage the connections and change data formats.

  
  

2. Enterprise Service Bus (ESB) / Integration Platform as a Service (iPaaS)

For very complex systems with many connections, an ESB or iPaaS (like MuleSoft, Dell Boomi, or Azure Integration Services) acts as a middleman between Salesforce and other systems.

• How it works: Salesforce connects to the ESB/iPaaS, and all other systems also connect to this middle layer. This middle layer handles sending data, changing its format, and organizing the flow.

• Benefits: Can handle lots of data, stays strong even if parts fail, central place to watch data flow, fewer direct connections between systems, and easier to manage complex data flows. This is key for true interoperability in healthcare (systems working well together).

• Things to consider: Adds another layer of technology and needs people with skills in the chosen middleware.

  
  

While direct connections between two systems might seem easy for small needs, they quickly become unmanageable in a healthcare world with many systems, leading to a confusing "spaghetti" setup.

Data Sync Models: Keeping Information Accurate

Once the connection plan is set, the next crucial step is deciding how information moves between Salesforce and other systems. The choice between sending data in batches or as events depends on how urgent the data is, how much data there is, and how quickly it needs to be updated.

1. Batch Processing

Batch processing means collecting and moving large amounts of data at set times (e.g., every night, every hour).

• When to use: Good for data that doesn't need to be real-time, for large amounts of data, or when systems only need updates now and then. Examples include syncing old patient records, updating doctor directories, or sending billing summaries.

• Pros: Efficient for big data volumes, uses fewer system resources during quiet times, easier to check data accuracy before processing.

• Cons: Data isn't real-time, information can become outdated, can lead to differences in data if not managed carefully.

  
  

2. Event-Driven (Real-time/Almost Real-time) Integration

Event-driven integration means data is moved almost instantly when changes or "events" happen in one system.

• When to use: Essential for very urgent data where immediate updates are needed. Examples include new patient sign-ups, emergency contact changes, appointment updates, or important alerts for care coordination. Salesforce Platform Events and Change Data Capture (CDC) are powerful tools for this.

• Pros: Data is consistent in real-time, faster responses, better patient experience because information is available immediately.

• Cons: More complex to set up, needs good error handling, can use a lot of system resources if not designed well.

  
  

3. Mixed Approaches

Most complex healthcare environments benefit from mixing both batch and event-driven methods. For example, important patient details and appointment changes might be real-time, while old clinical notes or large administrative data sets are updated nightly. This balanced approach makes sure things run smoothly and data is accurate where it matters most.

Key Things to Think About for Setup

Setting up Salesforce as a main source of truth in healthcare is a big job that needs careful planning:

• Data Security and Rules: Following strict rules like HIPAA, GDPR, and other local data privacy laws is most important. Salesforce has strong security features, but proper setup and handling of data are essential.

• Data Quality and Cleaning: Before moving or connecting data, make sure existing data is clean, correct, and doesn't have duplicates. "Bad data in, bad data out" is very true here.

• Ability to Grow: Design the system and connections to handle future growth, expecting more data and new system connections.

• User Acceptance: A successful setup depends on users actually using it. Provide good training and make sure the new ways of working truly make things better for users.

• Step-by-Step Approach: Consider setting it up in phases, starting with the most important tasks and main data, then slowly adding more.

Benefits of a Unified Salesforce-Focused Healthcare System

Using Salesforce strategically as a main source of truth brings big benefits:

• Better Patient Experience: A complete 360-degree view of the patient allows for personal communication, proactive outreach, and smooth transitions between care settings. This makes patients happier and more loyal.

• Improved Care Coordination: Care teams can instantly access important patient information and interaction history, leading to better decisions and teamwork in care.

• Efficient Operations: Automating repetitive tasks, reducing manual data entry, and streamlining workflows frees up staff to focus on more important activities, saving significant costs.

• Better Data Analysis and Insights: Combined data provides a rich base for advanced analysis, helping organizations find trends, use resources better, and improve community health.

• Easier Rule Following: A single, consistent source of truth simplifies audits and helps ensure rules are followed.

• Faster Digital Health Improvement: It sets the stage for future new ideas, including AI-driven insights, predictions, and expanded digital patient engagement tools.

Conclusion

In today's healthcare world with many systems, having a clear, correct, and easy-to-access view of patient data is no longer just nice to have, it's a must. By smartly using Salesforce as a main source of truth for patient contact and relationship data, healthcare organizations can fix fragmentation, improve how they work, and most importantly, give patients a better, more personal experience. This smart move empowers providers, streamlines tasks, and speeds up the journey toward true digital health transformation.

Ready to change your healthcare data strategy and use Salesforce's full power for your organization?

At AlliedGeeks, we specialize in designing and setting up strong Salesforce solutions for complex healthcare environments. Our expertise covers connection setups, data updating, managing main data, and making sure everything connects smoothly with your existing systems. Our Salesforce practice is led by a 25x certified Salesforce Architect with experience at Salesforce, Infosys, Syngenta, and Mercedes-Benz.

Contact us today for a free chat to see how we can help you make Salesforce your main source of truth and bring big changes to your healthcare business.