When it comes to running a business, anytime the entire industry is in crisis, the problems might be too big for any one company to overcome even in a local market. However, with healthcare, the problems are much more complex and involve, not only the financial stability of hospitals and providers, but everyone else in the country right down to the very last patient.
Unfortunately, this is the case with healthcare at the current time and unless major changes are made, it will go from bad to worse. The answer seems to lie in big data and this is something which is available now, but few institutions are implementing the strategies at their disposal. Here are some of the ways in which big data can improve patient outcomes while helping to stabilize an industry in crisis.
Online Financial Analytics to Assess Risk
It is commonly known that many hospitals and large medical groups overextend themselves in purchasing new equipment. This is where risk assessment should be a larger priority, and unfortunately it isn’t. Online analytical reporting software like AccuReports can help narrow down trends in the industry so that money can be better budgeted where it is needed.
Instead of buying the very same multimillion-dollar hi-tech equipment that other hospitals in the area already have, this software can help fill gaps left in the community. In other words, why spend so much on something that isn’t even being fully utilized in your city when there is other equipment only available upstate or in a neighboring state?
Wearables and Real-Time Alerts
There are really several ways in which wider access to wearables can help doctors and hospitals meet the demands of patients. While many doctors and hospitals have already begun helping patients become more proactive in their own healthcare to avoid costly hospital visits, full utilization of this technology is still lacking. While wearables are now being used in patients suffering from heart and kidney disease, imagine what would happen if the information collected could be shared industry wide instead of simply uploaded to that patient’s provider.
This would help the understanding of trends, especially within the various socioeconomic spheres which could go a long way towards preventative medicine. That which now seeks to reduce the number of patient visits to doctors and clinics could one day help better identify at-risk groups for better outcomes.
It’s All About Strategic Planning
Summing this all up, big data can be the answer to most issues healthcare currently faces, from the high cost of care to identifying trends within society. Some large HMOs have begun using big data to identify at-risk factors for opioid abuse while others are using the data collected for strategic planning within local areas. Big data can also help to discover why some patients refuse treatments and others are willing to spend a small fortune on treatments. If the information collected was able to be disseminated to every hospital, provider, insurer and patient care management team, it would be easier to identify problematic areas within a segment of the population.
In fact, big data is now looking at ways to cure cancer by analyzing data on a national scale, including what works, what doesn’t work and how current treatments interact with tumors. Wouldn’t it be nice to run an efficient healthcare facility at a lower cost to patients while providing the financial stability that institution needs to continue growing? That’s what big data can do and it’s simply a shame that healthcare isn’t making the most of the analytical tools already available to them.
