Too much of a good thing? How to turn endless data into actionable insights

Healthcare organizations face more financial pressures than ever before as margin pressures and costs continue to rise, all while competition intensifies. Facing these challenges head-on requires that organizations  turn massive amounts of healthcare data into actionable insights.

During a Becker's Hospital Review webinar sponsored by Syntellis Performance Solutions, Jay Spence, vice president of healthcare industry solutions and go-to-market strategy for Syntellis, shared how healthcare organizations can achieve tangible outcomes by getting meaningful information into the hands of accountable stakeholders. 

If you missed it, here are four key takeaways :

1. The healthcare business landscape is more challenging than ever. Reimbursement is stagnant, while operating costs — pushed largely by rising labor costs due to employee shortages and wage inflation — continue to grow. "Solutions that bring analytics into the hands of stakeholders, from physicians to operational leaders to quality teams, have never been more important," Mr. Spence said.
   
   

2. Stakeholders must effectively use data to make better decisions. Healthcare organizations are sitting on top of reams of data, from their EMR systems to their enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. "Making data more available and accessible and consumable for stakeholders requires the right tools and focus," Mr. Spence said. "There is an imperative to use analytics more effectively." 
   
   

3. Effective analytics measure what matters most to the healthcare organization. EMR and ERP systems, together with an enterprise performance management (EPM) solution like that offered by Syntellis, can enrich and enhance data. These platforms can deliver data in a consumable, summarized form to help drive planning and business decisions.
   
   Mr. Spence outlined a seven-part framework for analytics capabilities that can help organizations find the right solution to answer key business questions. These seven parts are:

1. 1. Opportunity analysis: Integrated reporting of cost and financial outcomes can paint a picture of how the organization is performing today. 
   2. Physician variation: Advanced costing methods and analytical tools are needed to track cost and utilization data.
   3. Clinical complexity: Medical conditions can vary widely in severity, necessitating severity-adjusted outcome measures and benchmarks. 
   4. Process inefficiencies: Inefficiencies like idle operating room time can be pinpointed with capabilities like integration of time stamps.
   5. Unexpected outcomes: Integration of data on patient safety and quality measures helps account for unexpected outcomes; an "encounter viewer" allows individual case review.
   6. Social complexity: To measure health equity and social determinants of health (SDoH), integrated patient survey data and financial data are needed.
   7. Payment impact: Contract modeling and analysis for real-time risks can help optimize reimbursement.

4. Adopt best practices for data governance. Syntellis hasworked with high-performing organizations to determine best practices in governing and leveraging data. For example, these organizations focus on "measuring what matters," tend to have a dedicated data and analytics team, and put a high priority on data governance. In some cases, a C-suite-level leader — such as a chief analytics officer — can help maximize the value of the organization's data while providing visibility into current projects and keeping the strategic importance of analytics front and center.

Data plays a critical role in guiding hospitals and health systems through today’s challenging industry landscape. As organizations invest more and more in data, they must also be able to realize a return on that investment, which requires alignment, engagement, prioritization and innovation.

Strategic financial planning is no exception and is increasingly a data-driven exercise. Financial data should paint a picture of performance, bringing together both market and internal data. Therefore, organizations must govern their data effectively and can benefit from the use a of state-of-the-art enterprise performance management solution, like Syntellis offers, to  get high-quality, accurate data in the hands of stakeholders in a timely manner to help guide decision-making. 

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