If Banks Sync Data in Real Time, Why Can't Patient Services?

Today’s guest post comes from George Moore, Chief Information Technology Officer at CareMetx.

While banks and logistics companies update data instantly, patient services often rely on delayed, batch-based systems. George examines the challenges of this model and the potential for real-time synchronization to improve coordination and accelerate access to therapy.

To learn more, download the CareMetx case study.

Read on for George's insights.

If Banks Sync Data in Real Time, Why Can't Patient Services?
By George Moore, Chief Information Technology Officer, CareMetx

In patient services, every day brings milestones that signal whether a patient’s journey is advancing smoothly or stalling. A provider submits an enrollment, a hub processes a benefit verification, a specialty pharmacy confirms a dispense. The problem is that too often, the people who need to act on these updates never see them. A corrected phone number may remain in a hub’s portal while the site of care keeps dialing the wrong one. A prior authorization approval may sit in a provider’s system without reaching others, leaving stakeholders under the impression the barrier still exists. Meanwhile, manufacturers, who depend on timely, accurate insight to support patients, often don’t receive any of this information until days later. With visibility this limited, they have little chance to meaningfully improve what matters most: time to therapy.

Other industries solved this problem years ago. Banks update balances the moment a transaction posts. Logistics companies can track a package in real time. Yet in this industry, where patient access is at stake, data still moves in delayed batches, leaving care teams a step behind. It is my strong view that the future of patient services should be defined by real-time synchronization, where every partner works from the same, accurate view of the patient journey at any given moment.

Download the case study to see how real-time synchronization is transforming one manufacturer’s patient services program today.

The Challenge with Today’s Model

In most patient services programs, data doesn’t flow continuously, it moves in daily batches. Throughout the day, stakeholders send updates to the hub, which compiles them into a single file, typically transmitted overnight. Manufacturers depend on those files for visibility.

This structure guarantees delay. A milestone may be reached in real time, but if it happens after the day’s file has already been compiled, it won’t appear until the next transmission. For example, if a benefit verification is completed at 4:30 p.m. but the batch was cut at 4:00, that update will sit idle until the next file is generated and sent. So what was progress in the moment, won’t actually be visible to stakeholders until the following day, sometimes nearly 48 hours later. As a result, they will continue operating under the assumption that the benefit verification is still unresolved.

Forty-eight hours later, that data has already lost its value as a real-time signal. And when it does arrive, that benefit verification result will be logged somewhere within a massive Excel workbook, on a tab among dozens, alongside hundreds of other transactions. To contextualize what the milestone really meant for the patient behind it would require digging through layers of data to stitch together a narrative, leaving manufacturers struggling to make sense of access realities across their programs.

What Synchronization Makes Possible

Real-time synchronization offers a much better model. A useful way to think about it is how email works. When you delete an email on your phone, it’s gone when you log in later on your laptop. If you flag a message on your tablet, the flag appears on your phone. Every device stays aligned because they all connect to the same live state.

Now imagine patient services operating the same way. Each stakeholder—provider, pharmacy, hub, manufacturer—works from one synchronized view of the patient journey. Every enrollment submitted, benefit verification completed or dispense confirmed is reflected everywhere at once. No one is left working with outdated information.

Once that foundation is in place, the possibilities multiply. The system can route updates directly to the people who need them most. It can share an enrollment instantly with the hub, pharmacy, and manufacturer, or push a dispense confirmation straight to an adherence team so they can begin patient education right away. Real-time synchronization lets stakeholders see the journey clearly and design patient services that act on information the moment it becomes available. For manufacturers, that translates into earlier interventions, better program oversight, and stronger opportunities to remove barriers before they delay therapy.

Moving Toward a New Standard

This shift is more than a technical upgrade; it is a redefinition of how patient services should operate. Instead of reconstructing the past from spreadsheets, manufacturers should see the patient journey as it unfolds, with every milestone visible the moment it happens. That visibility creates the chance to act sooner, coordinate better, and remove barriers before they slow access.

Other industries have already proven what real-time synchronization makes possible. Banks don’t wait a day to show a cleared deposit. Retailers don’t wait until tomorrow to confirm a sale. Patient services, of all industries, should not be the exception. The stakes here are higher, and the opportunity is greater.

For manufacturers who have already taken this step, the possibilities are beginning to come to life—programs with stronger oversight, faster interventions, and a clearer understanding of what truly drives time to therapy. This should be the standard our industry holds itself to. Download the case study to see how real-time synchronization is transforming one manufacturer’s patient services program today.

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