One trend that has not changed in healthcare (even with the sweeping reform acts and Federal Legislation) is the fact that healthcare organizations have been continually asked to do more with less. For those of us in this space, the list of popular topics goes on and on:
- Increasing aging population
- Laws that allow more Americans access to healthcare
- Changes in reimbursements
- The ongoing challenge of attracting and retaining the best talent
Acronyms like ACO's, EHR, CPOE, MU, ICD 10, PACS, and of course CMS have dominated our minds and impacted many decisions. Leading healthcare groups have finally invested in systems and processes that make them compliant and eligible to receive government incentives (however, proving compliance can still be a challenge). They've also invested in automated systems and technology to provide more access to data. All of this is designed to ultimately improve patient care. The question is...at what cost?
I guarantee you Ford Motor Company understands that the F-150 is their most profitable vehicle. They also understand which customers to market this to (note: you won't find many "Built Ford Tough" commercials during Days of Our Lives). Now the word "profit" may not be as popular in healthcare, but there are many questions healthcare organizations might not know the answer to:
- Which of my services are the most costly and why?
- What type of patient is most beneficial for a hospital to market to?
- Which IT solutions, equipment, and personnel should I invest in to increase revenue?
- Which solutions will help me reduce cost and improve quality of patient care for this year?
As you might suspect from all of the acronyms mentioned earlier, the "data" can be found, but what about "information"? Information, not data, is the key to answering these questions and making great business decisions in healthcare. Business intelligence (BI) solutions with analytics, measures, and metrics are out there...but are they truly being used to obtain actionable information? Some EHRs have a BI component, but a siloed BI solution that does not span all aspects of the organization. It would be like publishing an Annual Report without the information from Q4.
Complete access to actionable information, which enables decision makers to make fully informed decisions, is the key to bringing business sense to healthcare and truly improving patient care. Knowledge is power - see how by requesting a free demo and discovering the power of the hc1.com Healthcare Relationship Cloud.
