hospital data analytics - a big cure for a big problem
DESCRIPTION
With the increasing digitalization of hospital processes, hospitals are sitting on extremely large amounts of data – Financial, Administrative, Supply Chain, Patient & Lab Data, Medical Records and Prescriptions, etc. The problem with this data is that it very often sits with different groups and departments within the organization. Quite often it sits outside of the organization – with vendors, consultants, etc. This data is not being shared, and as a result, not being used effectively. An Integrated Hospital Database is the key to overcoming this obstacle.TRANSCRIPT
HOSPITAL DATA ANALYTICS – A BIG CURE TO A BIG PROBLEM
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WHY IS SPLINTERED DATA A PROBLEM FOR HOSPITALS AND WHAT ARE THE SYMPTOMS?
With the increasing digitalization of hospital processes, hospitals are sitting on extremely large amounts of data – Financial, Administrative, Supply Chain, Patient & Lab Data, Medical Records and Prescriptions, etc. The problem with this data is that it very often sits with different groups and departments within the organization. Quite often it sits outside of the organization – with vendors, consultants, etc. This data is not being shared, and as a result, not being used effectively.
SPLINTERED HOSPITAL DATA
WHAT IS THE CURE?
An Integrated Hospital Database is the key to overcoming this obstacle. Put simply, an Integrated Hospital Database is a data silo, which is used to collect, aggregate, transform, compare and analyse all internal hospital data. Combining all available internal data into one uniform data silo provides understanding of underlying correlations between internal performance, clinical outcomes, resource & staff allocation, financial KPIs, etc. The digitalization of key hospital processes, such as medical records, prescriptions & examinations, finance, supply chain, resource allocation, administrative data is a fundamental step to the construction of an integrated data silo. Even though these individual point solutions provide great benefits by themselves, they alone cannot provide the depth of analysis, which an Integrated Database solution can.
HOSPITAL DATA ANALYTICS – A BIG CURE TO A BIG PROBLEM
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INTEGRATED HOSPITAL DATABASE – A DATA SILO FOR ALL HOSPITAL DATA SOURCES
An Integrated Hospital Database is only the first major step towards optimal usage of hospital data. It becomes really powerful only when combined with Designated Reference Data and a Clinical & Business Intelligence Analysis and Reporting Solution. Reference data will be different for different hospitals, and will vary a lot across countries and regions, but generally consists of Geographic Imaging System (GIS) mapping data, demographic information, population and population analysis, physician performance ratings, NHS open data and Medicare files (and/or local equivalent), clinical reference data, competitor intelligence, predictive modelling on clinical and administrative level.
BUILDING BLOCKS FOR ADVANCED STRATEGIC DECISION MAKING SUPPORT
The second additional component of this three-piece puzzle is a Clinical and Business Intelligence (C&BI) Analysis and Reporting Solution. Large amounts of data by themselves, even if integrated into a single data silo, are not easy to analyse even by data scientists, let alone the people who would value such analysis most – C-Level decision makers. A customized C&BI tool will allow for the easy comparison, performance tracking, driver-analysis, KPI benchmarking, local market knowledge and understanding of dynamics and trends, as well as the swift preparation of executive reports, thus supporting decision making in a timely impactful way.
HOSPITAL DATA ANALYTICS – A BIG CURE TO A BIG PROBLEM
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How healthcare data analysis can be used for Clinical and Financial Performance Optimization, Business Intelligence and Strategic Decision Making?
Data analysis in a hospital setting can start contributing very fast – if you start smart and instantly focus on all potential areas of improvement. One best practice in this area is the Newton-Wellesley Hospital in Newton, Mass. Newton-Wellesley decided to initially focus only on reducing its housekeeping department spending using third party benchmarks. The hospital tasked its experts with that project and realized about $300,000 annual savings in that department.
Another example of how hospital data analysis can deliver comes from Monmouth Medical Centre, part of New Jersey's seven-hospital Barnabas Health system. The hospital Vice President in charge of the data-analytics transformation commissioned a list of the 20 physicians practicing at Monmouth who were costing the most money and sat down with each to go over their data. Several trimmed services like repeat lab tests and daily X-rays, and those 20 are no longer among the costliest. Their patient-mortality and complication rates have also improved.
Hospital data analytics can help:
•Improve clinical outcomes•Reduce costs for chronic care•Reduce operational costs•Enhance customer engagement•Reduce fraud•Improve return on investment
A common misconception is that these results will be delayed by years. This is no longer the case, as a combination of internal data and external benchmark data can be used to deliver sizable impacts even within months after the launch of a hospital data transformation programme.
What are the major challenges?
Many believe that the toughest challenges to successful hospital data analysis are either technological or financial. This, however, is not true. The largest challenge to a Data-Analysis-driven transformation is organizational. In order to bring all of the data together, hospitals will need to create an environment of cooperative change.
HOSPITAL DATA ANALYTICS – A BIG CURE TO A BIG PROBLEM
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This will definitely require new internal rules, procedures and responsibilities, as well as potentially contract renegotiation with some vendors and partners in order to more clearly define ownership and access rights to the data. Along come the complications of confidential patient information (both internal and external), as well as the required compliance with legislation on all fronts.
Where do we sit currently?
Although it is clear that an across-the-board transformation in all major hospitals across a variety of geographies will take decades to complete, some of these hospitals are well underway. As an example, the Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York has invested millions in its own computing cluster and $3 million in a super computer to boost its already impressive data analytics capabilities, whilst also having recently invested $120 million in its EMR system.
On a Middle East level, some of the hospitals have progressed greatly with the digitalization of their core processes, including the introduction of EMR systems. One of the most advanced hospitals in terms of EMR is the King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Center in Riyadh and Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Still, comprehensive Hospital Data Analytics programmes based on Integrated Databases and Business Intelligence Tools are very rare. The use of external reference data is even rarer. On the one hand, this is a great challenge for local healthcare institutions, as they look to catch-up to the advanced analytics practices of hospitals elsewhere. On the other hand, it is also a great opportunity to further improve the clinical and organizational aspects of hospital care in the region, delivering great benefits to patients, practitioners and hospital management.
The best approach to success begins with the digitalization of key hospital processes and consolidation of core health data within a single hospital data repository, gradually integrating data which is provided by external sources.
HOSPITAL DATA ANALYTICS – A BIG CURE TO A BIG PROBLEM
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Examples as the ones cited above will help convince decision makers in the value of data analytics and thus open the doors to additional investment in health data analytics. When all is set and done, hospitals will have the information and resources they need to make informed decisions which will improve their finance, their performance and their clinical impact on the patient’s outcomes.
by Kaloyan Stefanov, Healthcare Analytics Consultant, GemSeek Consulting
Kaloyan Stefanov is a Senior Business Consultant at GemSeek where he advises businesses in the healthcare and life-sciences sectors in relation to strategy, business intelligence and cost optimization. You may contact him at [email protected]
Further Info:
•The Full NHS data catalogue can be found at http://www.hscic.gov.uk/searchcatalogue •Medicare data available at http://www.cms.gov/Medicare/Medicare.html •More info at http://www.beckershospitalreview.com/healthcare-information-technology/5-best-practices-for-hospital-executives-using-data-analytics-how-to-improve-outcomes-cut-costs.html •Further reading at http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424127887323551004578441154292068308 •Further reading at http://www.technologyreview.com/news/518916/a-hospital-takes-its-own-big-data-medicine/
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