76% of active, schedulable employed provider profiles are now well-configured, 79% of employed providers are configured with clinical keywords for improved search relevance, and the platform has led to streamlined workflows and operational efficiency

Melissa Shipp, VP of digital experience, OSF OnCall; Tom Caldera, director of digital products, OSF HealthCare; and one of Tom’s dogs, Chelsea.
OSF HealthCare, a health system serving Illinois and Michigan, prides itself on innovation and digital transformation. It has more than 26,000 employees, 171 locations including 17 hospitals, and more than 2,215 employed primary care, specialist and advanced practice providers.
THE CHALLENGE
Not too long ago, OSF HealthCare had encountered significant challenges in managing its extensive provider data. The existing homegrown platform struggled with maintaining data accuracy and efficiency. This fragmentation negatively impacted scheduling and the overall digital experience for patients seeking care online – making it difficult to provide a seamless provider and location directory experience and to effectively support other digital tools.
Key challenges included disparate and inaccurate data, as provider information was scattered across multiple systems, leading to inconsistencies and outdated details. Manual processes for updating this data were time-consuming and prone to delays, creating inefficient workflows.
The digital product team at OSF HealthCare frequently had to address business questions arising from these data inaccuracies due to a lack of robust governance. Additionally, integrating provider data with various digital touchpoints – such as the website and chatbot – was complex.
“The scalability of our data management also posed a significant challenge, especially when integrating provider data from newly acquired entities like Katherine Shaw Bethesda Hospital, now known as OSF HealthCare Saint Katherine Medical Center,” said Tom Caldera, director of digital products at OSF HealthCare.
PROPOSAL
The proposed solution to the health system’s provider data management challenges involved working with vendor Kyruus Health to establish a single source of truth for provider and location data. The primary objective was to operationalize a system that would support self-service options for patients and centralize OSF HealthCare’s provider data management capabilities.
“The core of the proposal was to leverage Kyruus Connect for Providers to create a system-wide database of enriched provider profiles,” explained Melissa Shipp, vice president of digital experience at OSF OnCall, the digital health arm of OSF HealthCare. “This involved standardizing data fields and implementing a formal auditing and governance process.
“This process would consolidate comprehensive data elements, such as board certification, credentialing details, practice locations, educational background and accepted insurance plans,” she continued. “This centralized, normalized master data management capability was intended to serve as a one-stop source for all digital tools.”
Furthermore, the vendor’s APIs were expected to be crucial for powering OSF HealthCare’s digital ecosystem, enabling seamless data flow to the digital experience platform, provider and location directory, AI-powered chatbot and online care guide.
“This unified and accurate data source was anticipated to alleviate the challenges of disparate data, inefficient workflows and integration difficulties,” Shipp said.
MEETING THE CHALLENGE
OSF HealthCare implemented the vendor’s provider data management technology, establishing it as the single source of truth for provider and location data. This involved creating a system-wide database of enriched provider profiles through Kyruus Connect for Providers, standardizing data fields, and implementing a formal auditing and governance process.
“Currently, nine data files are ingested nightly from three core sources into the vendor’s technology for centralized management,” Caldera explained. “These sources include credentialing systems and OSF’s Epic EHR. This process consolidates comprehensive data elements, such as board certification, credentialing details, practice locations, educational background and accepted insurance plans.
“The APIs are crucial for powering OSF’s digital ecosystem, handling approximately 150,000 calls per month,” he continued. “This enables seamless data flow to the vendor’s Sitecore digital experience platform, the provider and location directory, and the AI-powered chatbot and online care guide, Clare from Fabric. Nearly all provider profile data now originates from Kyruus Health, with nightly batch processes overwriting and reloading fresh data.”
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