April 23, 2020: Here, at This Week in Health IT, we are strong proponents of platforms, and the COVID-19 crisis has brought to light just how important they are in achieving rapid solutions. Today's guests Varun Anand and Tiago Frigini are here to share with us their experience of the Minerva platform during this time. Varun is the co-founder of MphRx, the company which developed the platform, and Tiago, a doctor in Brazil, working with UnitedHealth Group, is a Minerva client. In this episode, we talk about the issues that Minerva has looked to solve. When the COVID-19 pandemic reached Brazil, it was clear that there were issues with healthcare delivery capacity. The strain on the system, along with wanting to keep patients safe and out of the ER, prompted Tiago to look for a platform to solve these problems. Varun discusses how the platform works and unpacks some of the specific tools available to optimize both the physician and patient experience. By having an agile, flexible solution, clinical resources can be focused on patients who need it most. We also get some insights into metrics from the platform, what additional features Tiago and his team will be adding to their version of Minerva, and how the patients have received it so far. It’s incredible, once again to see a variety of use cases and platform adoption across the world. Be sure to tune in today!

Key Points From This Episode:

• Learn more about Tiago’s background as a doctor and how he came to work in health IT.
• Anand’s background and the MphRx platform that he co-founded.
• The problems UHG was trying to solve by implementing the Minerva platform in Brazil.
• Why a vendor-neutral solution was important for Tiago.
• How the platform MphRx created has been adopted by UHG in Brazil.
• Platforms can be very easily deployed because they are not hard-coded.
• Why an agile approach is so helpful when dealing with ever-evolving situations.
• Learn more about how the Minerva platform stores and moves data around.
• Find out the patients’ reactions to the new platform and what they enjoy about it.
• Some of the platform building blocks that UHG managed to take advantage of.
• What's on the horizon with the Minerva platform for Tiago and his team.