Global Study reveals healthcare providers must prioritize business intelligence and analytics initiatives to improve patient care and reduce costs

As the healthcare industry grapples with the rising cost of care, healthcare organizations are leveraging healthcare data to drive efficiencies in care delivery, according to a new study conducted by HIMSS Analytics on behalf of Qlik.

The study, which surveyed 400 respondents, including C-suite, vice president, and director level contacts confirms implementation of and utilization of business intelligence (BI) and analytics platforms result in better decision-making across all segments of a healthcare organization. With four key areas explored – level of maturity across a variety of use cases, value that has been realized from current initiatives, challenges experienced from current deployments, and future investment plans in healthcare analytics – the survey revealed that BI and analytics platforms provide better internal transparency for easy recognition of clinical and operational efficiencies which can lead to reduction in the average length of stay and higher patient satisfaction.

Utilizing the Right Platforms Lead to Widespread Success

According to the study, 56 percent of healthcare organizations that are the early adopters of BI platforms improve overall patient care, significantly reduce healthcare costs, while meeting reporting requirements and driving new opportunities to enhance population health.

In addition, 48 percent have confirmed they are able to make faster and more accurate decisions, while 47 percent believe the use of BI and analytics platforms result in cost saving.

Overcoming Challenges

As the study proves, BI and analytics platforms enhance abilities for healthcare organization executives to see what is actually happening within their organization across all departments, however implementing a BI and analytics platform doesn’t come without challenges.

• Among the top barrier to healthcare organizations fully realizing the potential of BI and analytics platforms (with 42 percent responding) is end-user adoption. When combining the lack of data quality (41 percent) and challenges related to aggregating disparate data sources (27 percent), decision-makers are left relying on outdated spreadsheets and manual processes to analyze data.
• In addition, limitations of clinical workflow integration (29 percent), dashboard capabilities (27 percent), reporting capabilities (26 percent), cultural resistance (22 percent) and solution integration (20 percent) all contributed.

“Utilizing a modern and contemporary BI and analytics platform provides real-time data that is simple for self-service use, as it removes the guess work by the end-user and increases adoption,” said John Hoyt, executive vice president HIMSS Analytics. “With 42 percent of those surveyed reporting that a hiccup in leveraging BI and analytics platforms is end-user adoption, it is imperative that healthcare organizations implement a system that is user-centric and has the ability to provide quick access, analysis and dissemination of information. This enables healthcare organization executives to make operational improvements, improving overall patient care and efficiency.”

Unlocking Further Value from BI and Analytic Deployments

As the value of BI and analytics tools become more widely understood among decision makers, healthcare organizations are seeking investments that unlock additional value. Integrating BI and analytics solutions with existing applications and systems is a top investment priority with 36 percent of respondents citing further investment during the next 12-24 months. Dashboard development and predictive analytics were two other top investment priorities with 36 percent and 31percent, respectively. Interestingly, end-user training was cited as an investment priority by 18 percent of respondents.