Hospitals and health systems across the country are grappling with ways to organize and use the massive amounts of data that health IT systems generate. Rishi Sikka, MD, vice president of clinical transformation at Oak Brook, Ill.-based Advocate Health Care, provides three simple questions to guide leaders in using big data.
1. What's happening? Healthcare leaders need to define their goals and focus on data related to that goal. The first way leaders should use this data is to determine the current state within the targeted area, according to Dr. Sikka. For example, if a hospital leader aims to reduce readmissions, the first step in using data to reach this goal is measuring the current rate of readmissions, profiles of readmitted patients and other metrics on readmissions.
2. Can I predict what will happen? Once hospital leaders understand their baseline measurements, they need to determine how they can use those measurements to predict future events, according to Dr. Sikka. For example, hospital leaders could use data on readmitted patients to develop a list of patients at high risk for readmission based on shared characteristics.
3. Can I change what will happen? After determining predictive capability, hospital leaders should develop intervention plans to reach the desired outcome. Defining readmission high-risk patients, for example, could trigger additional education during post-discharge as well as follow-up.
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1. What's happening? Healthcare leaders need to define their goals and focus on data related to that goal. The first way leaders should use this data is to determine the current state within the targeted area, according to Dr. Sikka. For example, if a hospital leader aims to reduce readmissions, the first step in using data to reach this goal is measuring the current rate of readmissions, profiles of readmitted patients and other metrics on readmissions.2. Can I predict what will happen? Once hospital leaders understand their baseline measurements, they need to determine how they can use those measurements to predict future events, according to Dr. Sikka. For example, hospital leaders could use data on readmitted patients to develop a list of patients at high risk for readmission based on shared characteristics.
3. Can I change what will happen? After determining predictive capability, hospital leaders should develop intervention plans to reach the desired outcome. Defining readmission high-risk patients, for example, could trigger additional education during post-discharge as well as follow-up.
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