This week I had the honor of attending a summit that brought together more than 20 healthcare providers to share ideas and collaborate on key perspectives impacting their organizations. And throughout, I thought it was remarkable how often the underlying theme was the need for analytics and data-driven decision-making. The pressures prevalent in healthcare make the industry unique, however several of the thoughts uncovered this week are common elsewhere, and borrowing best practices developed in other industries and applying them to healthcare can improve outcomes. The primary themes identified included:

  1. Sharing and integrating departmental data both within and outside of the organization to improve patient outcomes and streamline administrative processes
  2. The need for more intellectual property collaboration in the industry and more commitment to open systems, in order to accelerate innovation and eliminate the reinvention of the wheel
  3. The requirement for constant data security to improve privacy and decrease the likelihood of breaches
  4. Creatively figuring out how to compete for resources with coveted skillsets against other industries like the tech sector, retail and banking
  5. The tendency to focus on financial issues such as payers and compliancy, rather than on patients (customers)
  6. Breaking down data silos and finding a way to integrate data to allow for holistic information in the decision-making process
  7. The need for data quality and data integrity—including documentation accuracy—during examinations and evaluations
  8. Leveraging cognitive, artificial-intelligence, and natural-language solutions to assist practitioners and eliminate the need for being data-entry specialists
  9. Determining how patient experience leads to positive patient outcomes; correlation does not equal causation, which makes predictive modeling difficult
  10. The need for contextual framing of information output, and formalization and acceptance of standard canonical formats

All of these items need to be part of a thorough analytics data strategy and data management plan, and experience rather than opinion needs to dictate the direction taken.

I am proud to be part of an organization that has been addressing these opportunities and having a positive impact for our clients. More importantly, I look forward to the future. As emerging ideas and technologies arrive, the requirement to utilize the power of analytics and strengthen our partnership with our clients will further enhance and improve this dynamic industry.

Sirius Data & Analytics experts design, architect, implement and operate analytics platforms for a wide variety of industries. Our approach is to focus on KPI/measurement definition, use cases, compliancy/policy needs, organizational maturity and technical skillsets. Regardless of the industry, we target emerging needs such as keeping up with the velocity of the business, creating solutions that enable scale and agility, and putting insight at the fingertips of users early and often. This is accomplished by integrating data from multiple sources, making it not only accessible but also actionable to support future decision-making.

For more information about Sirius Data & Analytics Solutions, speak with your Sirius representative or Contact Us to schedule a conversation.