TREND #7: LEVERAGE NEW TOOLS AND SKILLS TO TRANSFORM LARGE VOLUMES OF DATA INTO MEANINGFUL INFORMATION
Healthcare analytics have traditionally been reactive, and many healthcare organizations have taken the approach of “we will figure it out when the time comes.” That approach is simply not effective in today’s transforming healthcare industry. In order to survive, organizations must re-evaluate their approach to analytics and identify the skills and tools needed to improve patient outcomes and operational efficiency. These tools and skills are necessary to help sift through and make sense of all the data.
Healthcare organizations are inundated with an enormous amount of data that has the potential to not only make sense of the past but also to predict the future. The challenge is filtering through the mountains of data and turning it into useful information. While traditional analytics methods were performed by database administrators, the new era of healthcare analytics requires new competencies and a fundamental shift that focuses on preventing and targeting desired patient outcomes rather than reacting to past events. Historically, data analysts worked in isolation. However, today’s healthcare data scientists must be team-oriented and lead the collaboration of cross-functional teams.
While new skills are the foundation of transforming healthcare analytics, even the most skilled healthcare data scientists need new tools to convert data into powerful and actionable insights that impact patient outcomes and improve operational efficiency. Business intelligence and analytics tools remove data silos that inhibit strategic decision making, resulting in:
- Greater transparency within the organization
- Improved operational performance
- Better executive understanding of the impact that business decisions have on patient outcomes
This is just one of the healthcare analytics trends for 2016. In our new guide, we take a look at ten analytics trends healthcare executives need to be thinking about in 2016 and beyond. We identify technology strategies and solutions that will help healthcare organizations succeed in a data-driven, digital world.
