As we approach 2012, it is critically important to consider the implementation of Healthcare Analytics.  This point could not have been made more clear to me than it was during a final “orals presentation” prep to a recent prospective healthcare system client.

“Technology has finally been embraced (begrudged by some in Healthcare) by the Healthcare industry, just as Providers are facing the quandary of how to assemble useful information from the enormous amount of healthcare desperate data available through EMR’s, CPOE systems, HIM claims processing systems and other departmentDatabase systems we all know exist within a Provider”.

While we were making ready for the team preparation, I started asking myself “what are the reason(s) we [in healthcare] are racing to deploy Healthcare Analytics, and continue to miss the target?”  Then it came to me, we are healthcare people – focused on delivery of healthcare, not PhD statisticians with a research team focused on the problem.  However, the leadership teams charged with improving the healthcare “bottom line” still need to be more focused on how to turn data into strategic and meaningful information – I have noted five strategies that may just do the trick, read on!  That said, first, know the “end game”, namely your goals and challenges.

Goals and challenges:  We all need to bare in mind that that “Healthcare analytics is the Holy Grail with respect to the enhanced delivery of healthcare,” The conversion of lab data, CPOE stats, consults, and the myriad of other related data into meaningful trends holds the promise of increased coordination of patient care, patient safety, increased quality of care and cost-efficiency for not only individual patients, but also for provider system, is one of the strategic goals of accountable care.  However, turning patient data into usable information is challenging; furthermore, once healthcare providers can access the information, determining how to act upon it poses even more problems.

Finally, one must differentiate between healthcare data – the facts entered into the EMR – and information – the interpretation of the facts in a meaningful context. Just because you have a lot of data doesn’t mean you can do anything with them. It becomes mission critical, especially today with all changes occurring in healthcare, to get as much data converted into information that is usable.  What is needed are strategies to get the ball rolling!

Five Strategies to Consider:

1. Establish a Governance body (not just an org chart). Hospitals should set up a governance structure to manage implementation of data analytics capabilities. The CEO, CMO, CNO and CIO should all be involved.  The CMO and CNO need to communicate the kind of information they want to the CIO, who has the IT knowledge to conduct the actual implementation. “You need to have a governance structure [in which] the CIO takes the lead but has the [CMO and CNO] to always ensure that whatever he or she is doing is going to meet their needs,” he says.

Hospitals should also consider partnering with a professional organization experienced in Healthcare data analytics.  Reason being, the learning curve would be much steeper and the time to implementation longer if the providers try to create an analytical tool on their own. “It’s a major undertaking that takes time and a good deal of effort. [If providers do it on their own] it usually ends up on the back burner and never gets done.”

2. Determine the desired information Wanted. Due to the large amount of data available to providers, from the plethora of data sources, hospital leaders need to define what information they want. “You have to be able to filter what’s really important to you based on the hospital and specialty service you’re interested in.  Hospital Leadership should also determine when they want the data, how they want it presented and who they will share it with.

3. Format the GUI, and package the information appropriately. One of the keys to analyzing data is presenting it in an appropriate format. For example, if the hospital wants to understand the lab data for someone whose blood is drawn twice a week for five weeks, simply looking at the 10 data points would not yield any useful information. “It’s meaningless if there’s no reference point,” Instead, the hospital would need to trend the data and benchmark it against regional demographic norms and national averages.

4. Maintain the Level of Data Security. Once the provider has meaningful information, they need to decide who to grant access to and establish security protocols to ensure access is available only to those individuals who need it and have a need to know.  Access to information does not have to be all or nothing, however.  This is where HIPAA, healthcare ethics, and Governance come into play – decisions of this nature may be addressed with an established review by using the HIPAA standards developed, and the Governance/ethics teams convened by the hospital.

5. Insure Timely and Proper Sharing of the Information Effectively and Efficiently. Even if healthcare data has been converted to information and the information has been secured, analytics cannot produce benefits of improved quality and reduced costs if the information is not shared effectively.  Therefore, it is a strategic choice to use a “push” rather than a “pull” technique for sharing information with those within the healthcare system that may need it.

Present it to them in their daily work.  Don’t [make] them try to find it.  The difference between “push” and “pull” is similar to opt-out and opt-in systems. In a “push” environment, the individual would be automatically presented with data that they would have to consciously ignore or dismiss – or opt out of receiving it.  In contrast, a “pull” environment would require individuals to find the information themselves, or opt in. The former method increases the probability the individual will be aware of the information they can use to improve patient care.

Following these five strategies may not be all that you need to do, but it WILL get you started down the path of getting what you want – meaningful and actionable information that will be strategic in reducing cost and most importantly, improving the delivery of patient care…