So much healthcare data, so many missed opportunities
Four of five hospital leaders trust the accuracy of their institution’s data. Yet almost half of useable data gets underutilized if not completely untapped for guiding business and clinical decisions.
The market researchers who uncovered these findings suggest that, sure, AI has proliferated across healthcare—but it has barely begun doing what it might to enhance patient outcomes, improve productivity and reduce costs.
The study was conducted by the healthcare data platform supplier Arcadia in partnership with HIMSS. For the project, they surveyed 100 hospital professionals at the director level and higher, focusing on those who have a hand in data analytics activities.
The resulting report, published this week, offers a number of takeaways. Here are five as highlighted in press materials.
1. Data supports high-quality care.
More than half the healthcare leaders surveyed view data as crucial for improving care quality. One in four believes data is necessary to power care management and patient engagement strategies. And more than a quarter, 28%, say data platforms enable their organizations to enhance health outcomes and patient satisfaction. The researchers remark:
‘These findings reinforce the criticality of data to accelerate the transition to value-based care and achieve The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ goal to transition all traditional Medicare beneficiaries into a value-based care arrangement by 2030.’
2. Actionable information improves productivity and efficiency.
Almost all healthcare leaders, 95%, get it that their respective institutions need big data and capable analytics if clinicians are to improve their productivity.
‘Healthcare organizations navigating workforce shortages, care team burnout, and higher operating expenses can leverage data to create strategies to do more with fewer resources while still delivering quality patient care and supporting their staff.’
3. AI fuels innovation.
Some 84% of respondents have plans to integrate artificial intelligence, machine learning or large language models with their data platform.
‘More than half, 55%, plan to aggregate unstructured data, such as images, audio or PDFs, to reduce time-consuming manual review and unlock insights, like an undocumented condition, to better inform care delivery.’
4. Technology makes data more useable.
Responding healthcare leaders name enhancing data literacy (58%), using AI (47%) and addressing productivity challenges (34%) as key priorities to make data more usable. What’s more, 76% of large organizations (those with 15,000+ employees) believe implementing a comprehensive enterprise data solution is essential.
‘Larger organizations have the greatest need to connect disparate data sources to derive comprehensive insights and actions across the enterprise.’
5. Accelerating data recency remains an opportunity.
A majority of organizations, 61%, refresh their data at least daily for business intelligence analytics. However, when building and running AI models, that number drops to 32%.
‘Activating data in real time provides care teams with immediate access to the most current patient information, which ensures providers make decisions using the freshest insights.’
Dave P. has worked in journalism, marketing and public relations for more than 30 years, frequently concentrating on hospitals, healthcare technology and Catholic communications. He has also specialized in fundraising communications, ghostwriting for CEOs of local, national and global charities, nonprofits and foundations.