Subscribe
You can subscribe to the HealthData Talks Podcast on Spotify, Amazon Music, Apple Podcasts and more.

[00:00:02]  Welcome to Health Data Talks, where industry experts offer bite-sized tips and trends for managing legacy data.

[00:00:12] Erik Johnson: Thanks for joining us, everybody. I’m Eric Johnson, VP of Marketing at Harmony Healthcare IT, and today I’m joined by Travis Gregg. Thanks for being here, Travis.

[00:00:24] Travis Gregg: Thank you, Eric.

[00:00:27] Erik Johnson: Travis, could you please provide a brief background and introduction of yourself?

[00:00:42] Travis Gregg: Sure. I’ve dedicated my entire career to process automation. In healthcare—and most enterprises—there are numerous manual tasks, such as copying data between systems, managing spreadsheets, and compiling reports. These necessary tasks consume time and effort, limiting our ability to focus on more impactful work. I’ve spent over 25 years automating these processes.

[00:01:40] Erik Johnson: That’s amazing. Could you also discuss your journey into healthcare applications, starting with Trinis, and explain how that experience fueled your passion for automation?

[00:02:03] Travis Gregg: Certainly. My drive for excellence led me to work with outstanding colleagues over the years. Through collaboration, we built an organization focused on process automation, particularly for large data sets and document-based workflows.

[00:02:52] Erik Johnson: Great. Let’s talk about the product you’ve been developing—Clearway. Can you provide an overview of Clearway, its background, and the challenges it addresses, especially in connection with your passion for process automation?

[00:03:36] Travis Gregg: Absolutely. We approached a longtime partner and showcased our capabilities. She quickly challenged us to automate clinical registries. We then began researching, developing proof of concepts, and testing in close collaboration with our partners and nurse abstractors. Fast forward two years, and we’ve developed a compelling solution.

A clinical registry is a centralized repository of data for specific patient cohorts—patients who received a particular procedure or treatment for a specific diagnosis. Hospitals submit data for eligible patients, often requiring nurses to extract information from patient charts. This process involves hundreds of complex fields, many of which require sifting through unstructured text and synthesizing relevant information.

Participating in registries can increase quality by highlighting processes, improving documentation, providing robust metric reporting, and supporting accreditation efforts. However, the process is resource intensive and requires experienced staff due to its complexity.

Clearway automates the entire registry participation process—from identifying patients and managing their data to submitting the information to registry bodies. It also automates the extraction and auto-completion of required data fields, significantly reducing manual effort and streamlining the process.

[00:08:18] Erik Johnson: How long does it typically take a clinician to perform data abstraction?

[00:08:42] Travis Gregg: It varies by registry, location, and case complexity. Some cases take about 30 minutes, while others can take 60 minutes or more. Seasoned abstractors may work more quickly, but training new staff remains a challenge. Clearway streamlines the process, allowing teams to handle multiple registries more efficiently and manage workload surges effectively.

[00:10:43] Erik Johnson: That’s excellent. Let’s now dive into some technical details, discussing how your extensive experience in process automation plays a crucial role in solving these challenges?

[00:11:59] Travis Gregg:  have a background in AI dating back to the 1990s, with extensive experience in neural networks. When we began the Clearway project, we knew we needed to leverage natural language processing and various AI techniques. Although I was initially skeptical—since AI excels with large data sets (where an 80% success rate might be acceptable)—such accuracy is insufficient for an individual use case. We required a much higher level of accuracy and confidence.

Our team of architects and engineers was more optimistic, though it took some convincing. We experimented with several techniques and conducted rigorous benchmarking. This skeptical approach ultimately helped us evaluate our options thoroughly and set us up for long-term success. Rather than focusing solely on the technology, we pursued a dual path that put equal emphasis on the user experience for nurses. Our goal was to instill confidence by making everything accessible at their fingertips and simplifying a complex problem.

Transparency was critical; by allowing users to see every step of what we were doing and review any details they needed, we built trust. This approach enabled nurses to complete review tasks within Clearway more efficiently.

[00:14:16] Erik Johnson: Excellent. It sounds like a fascinating application of your practical expertise—using science to challenge assumptions while balancing user experience. Could you discuss some of the results so far? Specifically, what have studies and early adopters shown regarding time savings, accuracy, and any additional benefits?

[00:15:31] Travis Gregg: Our studies have demonstrated a 60% to 80% reduction in the time required per chart for patient abstraction. These significant savings allow nursing staff to be leveraged more effectively. Typically, teams focused on quality spend most of their time on menial and mentally draining abstraction tasks. By reducing that burden, nurses can dedicate more time to analyzing trends, improving outcomes, and driving quality improvements.

Additionally, the system’s structured nature makes it easier to onboard new users, thanks to its intuitive design and robust training capabilities. This not only frees up staff time but also enables the organization to engage in more quality initiatives and participate in additional registries. The feedback from our nurses has been overwhelmingly positive, reinforcing our excitement about Clearway’s impact.

[00:17:50] Erik Johnson: Fantastic. Travis, this has been an excellent conversation. I appreciate you sharing how your extensive experience has been applied to this specific challenge and broader process automation. Thank you for joining us today, and thank you to our audience for listening. Please join us next time for further discussions on managing health data.

[00:18:21] Travis Gregg: Thank you, Eric.

That concludes this session of Health Data Talks. Visit helpfulresources@harmonyhit.com and follow us on your favorite podcast app to catch future episodes. We’ll see you next time.

Speakers

Host:

Erik Johnson, comes to Harmony Healthcare IT with over 20 years of experience leading marketing and commercial teams focusing on Healthcare Information Technology applications. Erik has worked with large organizations (3M, Wolters Kluwer) and start-ups (VigiLanz, PatientIQ), helping teams evolve their go-to-market strategies to achieve sustained growth.

Guest:

Travis Gregg, with nearly two decades of information technology and business experience this former software engineer turned entrepreneur, applies his skill in document management, process automation, and rapid solution development to expanding product roadmaps. Prior to Harmony Healthcare IT, Travis was a software developer for CNA, the seventh largest commercial insurer and thirteenth largest property and casualty insurer in the country. Travis was a co-founded a company acquired by Harmony Healthcare IT, Trinisys, and was a software developer for CNA, the seventh largest commercial insurer and thirteenth largest property and casualty insurer in the country

Follow us

LinkedIn: @Harmony Healthcare IT, the Makers of HealthData Archiver^®

Twitter: @HarmonyHit