2023 Stakeholders’ Series

JULY 2023

Symphony Newsletter

This newsletter is a part of our 2023 Stakeholders’ Series. Through this channel you’ll get industry, program, and IHA-wide insights, in a more tailored and timely way.

Looking ahead: Symphony’s progress and key areas of focus

Throughout the first 6 months of 2023, we continue to implement clients to Symphony and address key product enhancements, increasing the platform’s functionality. Currently there are ~260,000 unique provider records live in Symphony. As we head into the second half of the year, we remain focused on stabilizing the platform and driving value for our clients, increasing its scale and ease of use, and improving data quality.

Improving data quality

Symphony continues to make progress toward improving the quality and accuracy of provider directory attributes. In June, Symphony saw the following data quality updates, reflecting refinements based on Symphony mastering policies: 

• 8.5% of appointment phone numbers  
• 23.4% of gender 
• 32.7% of last name 

To increase the velocity of data quality improvements, we’ve prioritized 5 key areas:

1. Timely root cause analysis
Expedite client reported data discrepancies — Complete

2. Optimize data load and migration process
Improve data accuracy — In progress

3. Compare current vs. legacy data models

Quickly identify and assess gaps — In progress

4. Update all mastering policies

Establish a permanent and reliable solution — In progress

5. Assess data granularity deltas between current and legacy data models

Ensure all clients submit and receive data at common grains — In progress

We will continue to bring you updates on data quality improvements in future newsletters. 

Bringing harmony to data exchange 

Your partnership is crucial to our success as we continue to build and implement the next-generation Symphony platform. Your commitment to Symphony helps unite California health plans and providers to improve efficiency, quality, and ease of provider directory data – improving patient access to care.

As California’s single multi-stakeholder solution built to solve the industry-wide problem of provider directory data, Symphony will make it easier for health plans and providers to keep their internal systems and public directories up to date, leading to improvements in patient access to care, improvements in patient satisfaction, and decreased spending on provider directory data processes. 

Compliance, simplified

Symphony supports compliance with health plan requirements for federal and state compliance, simplifying data exchange between health plans and providers. Symphony also facilitates a centralized, multi-plan attestation process where providers regularly submit and attest to provider directory data for all Symphony contracted health plans.    

High-quality provider directory data

Symphony’s advanced mastering process consolidates and compares provider directory data against trusted primary and secondary sources, while prioritizing data from provider organizations. Providers attest to their data when they send their files to Symphony, giving Symphony the most up-to-date information.   

A program led by industry experts

Symphony is closely aligned with the California Department of Managed Health Care, offering IHA and Symphony clients a direct channel to key decision-makers.​Symphony’s Data Governance Committee is a client-directed committee designed to give clients a voice in shaping mastering policies, data attribute granularity, data accuracy, and quality. 

Please stay tuned for more important updates on Symphony's progress.

IHA’s Health Policy webinar delivers updates on initiatives to improve provider directory accuracy  

IHA held its first-ever Health Policy Update webinar on June 20th as part of its new 2023 Stakeholders’ Series designed to inform industry stakeholders on key updates throughout the year.  

During the webinar, Symphony General Manager, Jacqui Darcy provided an update on federal and state legislative initiatives to improve provider directory accuracy. Highlights from the session include:  

• An overview of proposed Assembly Bill 236 where health plans will be required to annually audit and delete inaccurate listings, while facing penalties for not meeting accuracy benchmarks. 
• An update on IHA testimony at the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance hearing focused on reducing the prevalence of “ghost networks” that prevent timely access to patient care. CEO Jeff Rideout, MD, MA, FACP, testified at the hearing on behalf of IHA, presenting Symphony as a novel, industry-backed solution that serves to improve access to care and reduce administrative burden. 

To access a full recording of the webinar, click here.