The Covid-19 pandemic changed a lot of things for many people. Businesses and governments started embracing technology to offer their services. Healthcare was one of the industries that joined this wave. More clinicians embraced healthcare technology which offered effective healthcare analytics through tools.
It’s worth noting that the health sector receives enormous amounts of data daily. But while many organizations can aggregate this data, many medics struggle with interpreting the collected information. Thankfully, healthcare analytics solves this problem and allows efficient, accurate, and fast decision-making and predictions. Let us talk about how medical organizations are benefiting from healthcare analytics in this article.
What is Healthcare Analytics?
This is simply interpreting data from patients and the clinic in a systematic manner. The process uses a software tool that operates under data science principles to help clinicians analyze the information and make the correct conclusion. Analytics makes the information collected from remote monitoring devices, EHRs, and care coordination software tools actionable.
Healthcare analytics has many applications. For instance, the technology can prevent health risks and cyber fraud while facilitating research. Because of this broad use, Markets and Markets believe that this technology will reach $75.1 billion by 2026.
We also should mention that the technology is divided into five aspects;
- Discovery- evaluating raw data to identify any abnormalities or patterns
- Descriptive- analyzing data to identify past tendencies or historical trends.
- Diagnostic- helps clinicians to understand why there is a decrease or increase in the enrollment rates of a program.
- Predictive- analyzing the data to help predict patterns or risks of a patient.
- Prescriptive- take correct measures to curb the predictive analytics noted.
How Does Data Analytics Improve Clinical Productivity?
Healthcare analytics can improve healthcare in several different ways. These include;
Streamline Operations
Previously, hospitals prepared patients’ data manually, which was very time-consuming. But with the new analytics technology, combined with AI and machine learning, healthcare providers record and retrieve a patient’s information quickly.
Several data analytic apps are available to collect data like bed demand and availability, the number of patients, patient discharges, etc. As such, the staff spends less time preparing data manually while ensuring a speedy response to emergencies. When the operation is smooth, the employees become more productive.
Optimized Work
Providers use care coordination software and other platforms to collect information about their practice and patient. It can include patient calls or texts, types of services a hospital offers, and billing claims. The only problem is that this data is uncategorized and can be challenging to interpret. That’s where analytics comes in. The technology filters information into data segments, helping users to derive actionable insights quickly.
The segments can include billed vs. generated claims, patients with the specific condition who’ve received medication and those with the same disease that didn’t receive medication, successful phone calls from patients vs. unsuccessful, etc.
The providers can then conclude these data segments and identify where they need to improve their service. Noticing the inefficiencies can help clinicians offer value-based care.
Identify Risk Patient Quickly
Healthcare analytics can minimize the rate of readmissions and reduce hospitalization. They help providers predict potential health risks long before they become a real issue. As a result, it can improve the success of treatments while assisting clinicians in offering coordinated care services, which boosts clinical productivity.
For instance, a Northshore University Healthcare system uses health analytics to predict chest pain patients that need to be admitted for monitoring and those that can be sent home safely. As a result, they reduce hospitalizations, which means more vacant beds and less work for the hospital’s staff.
Improves Collaborative Data Exchanges
A study conducted by Fierce Healthcare revealed COVID-19 pandemic brought previously competitive markets together to mobile and exchange data fast and effectively. For instance, Rush Medical and Chicago acute healthcare facilities are working together to share their bed capacity data. As a result, they have improved their reaction time and managed emergencies. They quickly send out ambulances, and staff can quickly get information about any fluctuation in the flow of patients.
Final Thoughts: The Future of Healthcare Analytic tools
Although the pandemic increased the use of technology in healthcare, many organizations haven’t adopted it yet. For instance, a recent report showed that more than half of the hospitals hadn’t included analytics or data governance strategies in their daily practices. At least 97% of the total hospital data is wasted.
Generally, hospitals receive a considerable amount of data daily. However, many do not have the right analytics to interpret this data. As a result, they lose opportunities to better their services and serve more patients.
Thankfully, data analytics can help solve this problem. Therefore, providers must understand the benefits of this technology and consider ways to incorporate it into their organization. Remember that it’s going to advance in the coming years. Therefore, it’ll significantly improve healthcare providers’ efficiency, productivity, and financial viability.
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