Limited resources, lack of data standards, and poor data normalization were cited as the greatest barriers to complete data aggregation, according to a survey report from KLAS Research and the Center for Connected Medicine.
A solution that enables continuous performance improvement is essential in value-based health care.
As health care organizations (HCOs) make the switch to value-based care, data aggregation will be among the top three priorities, according to a survey report from KLAS Research and the Center for Connected Medicine (CCM). The survey discovered that while HCOs plan to ramp up investment in telemedicine, patient portals, and data aggregation capabilities, they consider limited funding and lack of reimbursement from payers the top hurdles to patient engagement technologies and analytics.
Improving Data Analytics Capabilities a Top Priority
“Top of Mind for Top Health Systems 2019,” surveyed 70 chief information officers from 65 HCOs, discovering that health systems are actively trying to harness all available data to make better-informed decisions. This includes aggregating, cleaning, and normalizing data from all kinds of sources, and investing in technologies that will help improve aggregation and analytics.
Some of the key findings included:
- 71% of the respondents reported that they were on the way to completing integration of their clinical data, either using a single-software platform or an EHR integrated with the majority of their data sources.
- 98% reported having integrated EHRs; 83%, imaging data; and 80%, claims and payer data.
- Only 61%, however, reported full integration of clinical data with nonclinical sources, for instance, data from financial systems and other outside sources.
- 94% reported using their EHR vendor to achieve analytics and aggregation goals; 75% said they use an internal analytics team.
The Three Main Barriers to Data Integration
The survey also listed the three most commonly cited data integration efforts barriers:
- Limited funding, 44%
- Poor data normalization, 44%
- Lack of standards, 40%
Small HCOs also reported intentional data blocking as a barrier, and about half of respondents blamed health IT vendors as the most common source of data aggregation roadblocks due to lack of standards and interoperability. These barriers lead to obtaining data that’s incomplete, outdated, or inaccurate, especially with data that historically has been harder to integrate, like imaging and claims.
Data Standardization and Normalization
Aggregated data is only useful if it’s accurate. HCOs should be able to trust the data at their disposal. Advanced data analytics solutions can enable better clinical decision-making and improve patient outcomes. A data-driven solution that enables continuous performance improvement is paramount.
With d2i, there is little upfront cost and no need for new infrastructure. There’s also no need to maintain an analytics department or to hire analysts. Let us be your analytics department, and we’ll work with your IT department to implement our solutions in as little as eight hours.
Jonathan Rothman, d2i Founder and Chief Solutions Officer, explains:
We acquire data in its rawest form, so none of the relevant details are lost. We then clean, integrate, harmonize, and curate the disparate data, rebuilding the patient journey with all relevant details to allow for any question about what happened during that patient visit to be easily answered. Additionally, we help our clients understand the impact one area metric has on others, creating actionable insights that naturally lead to behavior change and performance improvement.
Brian Sweeny, Director of Customer Success, adds:
We strive to maintain high customer success by not stopping after early achievements. We work to sustain success, while always looking for new areas of improvement through regular data-driven operational reviews with each client.
With your operational priorities in mind, d2i’s data analytics solutions can help you optimize performance, and improve efficiency and patient safety. See why no other health care business intelligence tool or EHR system even comes close. Contact us for more information about our analytics tools, or to schedule a 30-minute demo.