The role of analytics in the evolving healthcare market

Q Lamont: Are we moving then toward a model of personalized medicine, and away from a one-size-fits-all perspective?

A Shaffer: More precise and detailed clinical information will allow better treatment of each individual. Mapping of the genome has exploded the potential information that we have about the patient. Simple things like mobile apps can also provide useful information and improve patient engagement. For example, there are already mobile apps that allow individuals to measure their sleep quality. Smart phones will be an important ?tool for doctor-patient collaboration in the future.

Q Lamont: Are there other major challenges facing the healthcare industry right now with respect to information management?

A Corcoran: What we see most frequently is that healthcare systems are trying to get a single view of the patient, given that each patient has multiple doctors, facilities and procedures involved. Having a multidimensional view of the patient lifecycle helps provide better metrics and more accurate predictors.

A Carew: Lack of complete data is definitely a big challenge. We have a broader view than many providers because we have both inpatient and outpatient facilities, and a large network of physicians. However, if a patient receives care at an ER outside our system, we are not necessarily aware of it, even though the payer is. On the other hand, the payers do not see all the clinical and biometric data. So there are gaps in getting a complete picture of the patient.

A Corcoran: Another challenge is that very few facilities have perfect data. Organizations don't necessarily know in advance what the data issues will be. They need to respond to both operational and regulatory requirements. But if hospitals wait until their data is complete, they may never be able to respond, so it's better to move forward with what is available, and cleanse or augment data as needed.

Q Lamont: What are some important opportunities for implementing analytics in healthcare?

A White: For organizations that have not yet deployed a full-scale analytics initiative, a critical first step is to bring together into a data warehouse the information they have in various repositories. Too often there can be a lack of vision or a failure to look at the longer term, which leads to companies having an inflexible or inadequate infrastructure. There is a seismic shift right now in the way data will be used to power healthcare, and a significant investment is required to do it well.

A Corcoran: Big data represents a major opportunity. Patient records focus on basic information at this point, but a lot of additional data is being collected by medical instrumentation, and much of that data is not being used in subsequent analyses. There are many opportunities for analyzing procedures and outcomes, with the goal of lowering risks in the future. Being able to analyze the full range of data related to a specific population or type of medical episode would have a big impact on care.

A Hughes: Organizations that successfully navigate toward the new value-based payment models will be in a much better position to compete over the coming years. In the past, if providers avoided expensive hospital admissions, they lost money. What had been a penalty in the past will become an opportunity for profit in the future, for those who can reduce utilization while maintaining high quality. As new regulations are implemented from the ACA, analytical tools will play a key role in identifying waste and inefficiency, and provide insights into the tradeoffs between financial risks and rewards.