Infotech Lead Asia: Healthcare sector is gearing up for using analytics to improve performance.
According to IDC, the top 4 reported capabilities for which healthcare organizations intend to use analytics are:
The ability to identify patients/members in need of care management was was the most frequent type of planned analysis, cited by 66 percent of respondents in IDC Health Insights’ 2012 Accountable Care Survey.
Sixty-four percent of respondents identified Clinical outcomes as the second most frequent type of planned analysis.
The IDC report said 64 percent of respondents cited performance measurement and management as the second most frequent type of planned analysis.
57 percent of healthcare respondents says Clinical decision-making at the point of care is the third most frequent type of planned analysis.
“Hospitals are now increasingly dependent on IT solutions to support them day-to-day, reduce human errors, limit operational costs and stay ahead in terms of technology,” said Frost & Sullivan Research Analyst Somsainathan CK
As the penetration of healthcare IT rises, hospitals are investing in professional services to optimize the use of these solutions.
European hospitals increasingly see the importance of using the right communication and technology solutions, they are turning to healthcare IT professionals to select the models best suited to their needs.
The need to update existing technology to boost efficiency and lower costs is also driving the growth of IT professional services on the continent.
While accountable care is growing rapidly, there is skepticism about the industry’s ability to meet the objectives: to improve the health of the population, to improve the patient experience, and to manage financial growth.
Previous attempts to improve quality and control costs through programs such as capitation and withholds were not successful, in part due to inadequate data that was retrospective and not in a format that was useful to physicians. Advantages and reasons for optimism in 2013 and beyond are about the ability to move, normalize, and analyze data in a far more robust fashion than 20 years ago.
Cynthia Burghard, research director, Accountable Care IT Strategies, IDC Health Insights, said: “All indications, from survey results and from discussions with healthcare thought leaders and technology suppliers, are that analytics is the number one investment priority on the agenda for healthcare organizations engaging in accountable care.”
IDC says healthcare organizations are beginning to embrace advanced analytics and new data sources.
IDC says 2013 investments in advanced analytics such as streaming data monitoring and analysis, text mining, and social graph analysis were also a priority.
Sources of their data identified by respondents include the types of data (e.g., claims [57 percent], clinical structured data [73 percent], and care management data [70 percent]) that are needed to identify and manage patients with chronic illness or through wellness programs. These data sources indicate strong opportunities for analytics.
New data sources such as from mobile devices (42 percent of respondents), social media (32 percent of respondents), and unstructured clinical data (29 percent of respondents) are being used to support accountable care. Health plan respondents had significantly greater interest than hospitals.
