This ain't your grandma's locker! - PHI in the Cloud

So, recently I was talking to a potential customer about our MAx on Demand offering, which is our SaaS Healthcare Informatics platform and he said that one of the challenges he's been facing is convincing his Sr. Executives that it is safe to host Protected Health Information (PHI) in the cloud. He asked me if I had any arguments for it. Boy, where do I begin? Here is a stab at it.

Not your grandma's locker!

That's right, this is not granny's locker where the key hangs "securely" around her neck! If you have doubts about how sophisticated our data protection capabilities are, take a look:

Companies like ours, take the security of our clients' and their customers' data very seriously. So, there are two high levels of security in place, Physical Security & Network Security.

Physical Security

To access our data center physically, you have to go through a series of checks. If you are an employee, you are given a badge (after background checks of course!). This badge lets you in the parking lot and to the office spaces. You still can't get to the data center. To get to the data center, you have to have biometric access and a secure access code. This will let you into the data center. From the data center, to access your server, you have to have another secure pin that allows you to physically touch the servers. All of your actions are monitored by security cameras and stored.

If you are a visitor to our data center, you have to register with the guard station. You are ID'd and photographed. You will be escorted by an employee during your visit. 

Network Security

Our network security policies and procedures ensure the protection of company wide networks, related devices, and their services from unauthorized intrusion, modification, destruction, or disclosure. Network security provides assurance that a network performs its critical functions correctly, efficiently, and without any interference. Its primary goal is to provide a reliable and secure platform, designed specifically so that users and programs perform only the actions allowed.

Firewalls – Firewalls are utilized to provide dedicated, security specific processing hardware and a complete set of Unified Threat Management (UTM) security features including stateful firewall and web filtering.

Virus Protection – Antivirus software is installed on all Microsoft based servers and workstations. Automatic updates are configured to ensure latest signature download for system protections.

Logging – System logging occurs according to system settings defined by the administrator. Log records can be retrieved as needed. Successful and failed logon activities are logged by domain controllers.

Attck Monitoring - If that is not enough, you can always request 24x7 attack monitoring for your servers!

Disaster Recovery - If a disaster strikes, you can still sleep tight knowing that there is a triple redundant power supply to our data center. Oh, by the way, did I mention that this is a Category 5 hurricane resistant building?

Business Associate Agreements

And if you are still worried about liability, most reputed companies like ours will sign Business Associate Agreements as defined by HHS that makes us adhere to HIPAA laws and liable for breach of Private information: (http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/understanding/coveredentities/contractprov.html)

So yeah, we know that you take your data protection seriously, so do we!  

Predictive Modeling in Healthcare

Ok, so these are my musings over predictive modeling, not a knock on it. (That is the disclaimer). So, as I was sitting around, pretending to watch TV and ignoring the dog who seemed to want to go out and play, I thought about Predictive modeling, in a healthcare setting. Specifically, in a Healthcare Provider setting. I actually asked this question on several groups on LinkedIn and asked folks if they have had success with it. The only person who responded with a success story was Mr. Alex Zverev (you can view his profile on LinkedIn here: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/alex-zverev/1/a01/b03), and the scenarios in which he has had successes here (http://www.linkedin.com/groupAnswers?viewQuestionAndAnswers=&discussionID=90342387&gid=93115&commentID=65616962&goback=%2Egmp_93115%2Eamf_93115_10544349&trk=NUS_DISC_Q-ncuc_mr#commentID_65616962). So here are some of my thoughts.


My primary interest is in the Return on Investment of using predictive modeling. I see quite a few software providers out there touting to have predictive modeling capabilities, but haven't heard of a lot of success stories, especially in a healthcare provider setting. Even lesser information is available on the ROI of implementing a predictive modeling solution.

To me, an ultimate predictive modeling solution would be something that can predict the stock market, which has infinite number of variables to consider. But if it were that simple, everyone would be doing it. On the other hand, in healthcare, people are touting Clinical Decision Support capabilities using predictive modeling. "Which patient of yours is most likely to develop cancer?", for example. In my humble opinion, that again is quite a stretch, because of the number of variables that need to be taken into account, not to mention "objective research" that is available to create the model in the first place. 
For example, it would be easy to say that a smoker of Asian descent between the ages of 18-40 may develop cancer quicker than others. But what if he is a smoker with healthy eating habits and hits the gym 4 days a week? What if that person only smokes three cigs a day? What if he has no genetic predisposition to cancer? To me, this a cool exercise to conduct and eventually, as you gather more and more data and "evidence" really starts supporting your research in cancer, your model becomes much more reliable and this will start generating a measurable ROI, by reducing the cost of treating a patient through early screening and through preventive medicine. 


My thought is that if you are going to do predictive modeling, start with an area with a limited number of variables. Your "bang for the buck" would be realized sooner and it would be greater in that scenario. For example, the scenarios that Alex describes (Capacity Planning and Measured Display Times for Display Stations) have a better chance of an "immediate" ROI than, let's say, a cancer predicting algorithm. Now, if you are reading this, and have had successes with using Predictive modeling in different settings other than the ones described above, please let me know. I'd like to hear your stories.

The Informatics M.U.S.E

Recently, I was talking to a customer and he asked what I thought about a comprehensive informatics platform should contain. Currently, our focus is on Healthcare, but as I thought about it, I realized this applies everywhere. So, I said to him, "you have to have your M.U.S.E.". Ok, I am not talking about the Hollywood version with Sharon Stone, but the informatics version. So what is an informatics MUSE?
Measure
You have heard me harping about this over and over again. What are you measuring? Why are you measuring it? When you measure your business (healthcare or others), you understand your business better. So, measure everything that impacts your customers (internal or external)


Utilize
Alright, the second element for you to have a successful implementation, you need to have utilization modules. For example, in healthcare, you measure OR Utilization. Great, now that you know that your utilization is below 100%, what are you going to do about it? How about a OR scheduling module that allows you to maximize your OR scheduling? Utilize the information that you gathered during your Measuring process.

 SaaS (Software as a Service) it!
That's right, I said SaaS it. The biggest advantages between a SaaS solution for your business versus you buying the tools and technologies and building it yourself is cost savings and a much faster implementation lifecycle. It puts the focus on "information" and not the technology. Apprehensive about your data being hosted elsewhere? Don't be. Most reputable SaaS solution providers have hardened, HIPAA compliant Data Centers, with 24X7 monitoring capabilities.

Evaluate
That's right. Once your implementation is complete, constantly evaluate your data, decisions you make based on the data and evaluate your performance improvements. This'll allow you to revise your strategies on the go and allow you to make decisions as fast as small companies do.

So there, get your MUSE!

Micro Informatics

Recently, we launched our FREE, yes FREE, iPhone app to help providers keep track of OR Utilization. (To appease our sales and marketing folks, here is more information about the app: http://www.metaanalytix.com/page.php?page=35). It only does one thing, that is, keep track of OR Utilization. You ask me, when you have the Cadillac of informatics solutions, why launch a "micro informatics" app? One very simple reason. Delivery of information at the point of decision making. The reason why we built the app is because a couple of friends of ours, who work at surgical departments said, we are always asked how we measure in relation to our goals. We have no way of knowing it till the end of the month, nor do we have an effective way of tracking where we are or justify a lower score than what is expected of us. So, here are some reasons for "micro informatics":

* It is a great motivational tool. If you can keep track of where you are, you can change directions accordingly to achieve more.

* Educational purposes: Research is usually done at a macro level. But if you can use the results of that research and deliver it at a micro level, you can deliver the latest information at the point of care. For example, an ER doc running from patient to patient, maybe able to quickly access the latest findings in research at the point of care.

* It is a great data collection mechanism. You get better data from the "horse's mouth", so to speak. Better data, better analysis.

Skim on it now, you'll pay later

Everybody wants to cut costs. "Bad economy, can't commit enough money right now...", we have heard it all. The thought process is, let's do the one thing I need right now (at dirt cheap prices), and then we'll go from there. Well, it would be a sound financial decision.... if you are buying groceries! If you are planning an informatics initiative, however, it is a bad idea. Now, solutions like ours, are designed specifically with that kind of need in mind and can scale to need. But most are not. So if you are investing in an informatics solution, invest in it. It doesn't go bad after a week. In fact, in the long run, it will help you cut costs and save money. It really is not like buying a car where, as soon as you drive off the lot, the value drops by 10%. Over time, the more data you have, the better your analysis is going to be. It is an investment. It may not be a revenue "generator", but it certainly is an "expense reducer", if used properly. Some food for thought.

Feedback Requested

As I was talking to a very smart friend of mine who is in PR & Communications, she asked me what my company did. As any good technologist would do, I told her that we are a health informatics company and that we have an end to end informatics platform that extracts data from disparate systems and presents reliable information to key stakeholders in Healthcare for better decision making. She asked me again, "what do you do?" and explained to me the importance of simplifying our message. So here is an attempt. Your feedback will be greatly appreciated. Especially if you are in healthcare

Which one of the following sentences resonates with you about what we do?

1. Helping improve quality of care and reduce healthcare costs through reliable information.

2. Providing business and clinical intelligence to decision makers in healthcare.

3. Providing cloud based analytics and data warehousing for healthcare.

4. An end to end informatics platform for healthcare at a fraction of the cost.

5. None of the above, I still don't know what you do.

Wonder Why BI implementations fail?

Take a look!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78FJBDKSYPY

ACO Series, Part I

So, people have been (I hate saying "people", it's like saying "they say...". My first question is, "Who are the famed "they"? In this case, who are these "people"? But for the purposes of this post, I can't take names, so "people" ) have been asking me about ACOs and the role of analytics in it. I read a recent study done by American Hospital Association and McManis consulting titled "Activities and Costs to Develop an Accountable Care Organization". If you haven't read it, it is a good read. In the report, they break it down into four major categories:

1. Network Development and Management

2. Care Coordination, Quality Improvement & Utilization Management

3. Clinical Information Systems and, my favorite

4. Data Analytics.

Now, it is interesting that they broke out Data Analytics as a separate entity. In my humble opinion, Data Analytics has implications in all three of the other areas. For example, the stated definition of ACOs is: "intended to manage the health of a defined population and to be held accountable and reimbursed based on measurable improvements in quality and patient satisfaction, plus reductions in costs". Sound familiar? If you have been reading my blogs for the last two years, you would have heard these two terms repeatedly:

1. Improving Quality of Care

2. Reducing cost of care

And why do I think Analytics has implications in all three? Well, let's put it this way. You don't throw money at something and hope that it sticks do you? If you answered yes, well...you are reading the wrong blog, but if you didn't, then read on.

Let's take a look at section 1 of the study, Network development and management. The study details about 9 activities that you have to do to achieve the goals of this section. I am not going to go into details of all of them. But let's examine a couple.

* Recruiting/acquiring primary care professionals, right-sizing practices

Great goal. But how do you achieve this? Do you want to acquire every PCP that is associated with you? Probably not. You want to acquire the "best" ones. You criteria for defining the "best" might differ from your neighbor's, but you still want to acquire the best and drop off the dead weight. (Remember the fact that you are trying to "reduce costs" through this activity). So how do you know who is your best target for acquisition? Historical data of course! So, define the metrics which allow you to define your "best case scenario", run those metrics against your historical data and see who pops up at the top! You might be surprised. If I were a betting man, I would bet a dollar on it!

* Compensating physician leaders

Uh oh! Yes, I went there. This is a touchy subject. Well, the question is, how do you define a "leader"? Is it the physician who can do 40 surgeries, play 18 holes of golf, take the kids to soccer practice and have dinner with the family all in a day? Could be. It could also be the physician who has the least infection rates. It could also be the physician with a 100% patient satisfaction rate. So now we have a combination of metrics (weighted, of course to come up with the definition of a "leader"). Again, run these metrics against your historical data ( you do have historical data as much you think you may not), and see who pops up at the top. Again, I will bet a dollar that you might be surprised.

So you see, analytics is not a separate "reporting only" solution. You can use it to make intelligent decisions. But if you are reading this blog and haven't slept yet, you already knew that. That is why I think analytics has implications in all three of the major categories in achieving a true ACO.

ACO Series Part II: Care Coordination, Quality Improvement and Utilization Management

Coming soon to a blog near you.

Plug and Play Business Intelligence?

As I was speaking to a potential client recently, I realized that someone had tried to sell her BI in a box. Even with our appliance Integra, I would not dare call it a plug and play solution. Why? There is so much that needs to happen before you get useful information out of your BI initiative. Out of the box, Integra includes the following:

· The ETL (extract, transform and load) software required to connect and integrate data.

· A semantic dictionary of healthcare terms for mapping source data to target data

· A data warehouse (customizable to house EMR, financial and other data).

· Pre-loaded metrics

· A fully integrated BI reporting solution.

· Pre-built reports.

· The hardware to house all this.

And you still wouldn't call that BI in a box, you ask? Absolutely not! And here is why. Even with all of this functionality built in, there is one thing missing. No prizes for guessing what it is. What is missing is “YOUR" data! Guess what, without that, the greatest BI in a box solution won't be of much use to you.

So let's take a look at what needs to happen before this becomes the BI 'Solution' that works for YOUR organization.

· Implementation Planning – During this initial phase the following will occur:

o Gather full set of reporting requirements.

o Gather testing requirements.

o Gather production deployment requirements.

o Identification of systems of record (SOR) and the tables/fields needed to satisfy the end reporting requirements.

o Mapping documents for each SOR are created. These documents include:

§ Source field name, data type and format.

§ Target field name, data type and format.

§ Cleansing requirements for each field.

§ Business logic needed to translate from source to target.

o Create development, testing and implementation plans for the next phases of this project.

· Customization – The actual customizations are created during this phase.

o Data for each SOR is gathered.

o Cleansing ETL processes are created for each source record.

o ETL processes are created and unit tested for each SOR.

o Reporting cube(s) are customized to support reporting requirements.

o Reports are created/customized and unit tested to requirements.

o At the end of this phase, the hardware is delivered to your site and the processes are connected to your SORs.

· Testing – Testing will be performed to the requirements which typically includes:

o Systems Integration Test (SIT) – Full nightly runs are performed and system is tested for correct technical functionality.

o User Acceptance Test (UAT) – A test bed of users are allowed to use the system to ensure requirements have been met from a business/clinical viewpoint.

· Production Deployment – The system is moved to your production environment and the system is made available to your users for consumption.

So folks, next time someone tells you that there is a plug and play solution for BI that does all of these things automagically, please call me right away! I would like to see this wondrous new thing and pay my respects. You can reach me at kishore@metaanalytix.com

Mental Health

Ok, so this is not really a blog post, but thought I'd let you know that we have now partnered with a Mental Health screening provider to provide analytics. You can read the press release here:

http://www.metaanalytix.com/upload/File/Meta%20Analytix_Medical_Outcomes_PressRelease.pdf

Accountable Care Organization - Achievable?

What is an ACO?

Here is a recent example of an ACO definition taken from a 2010 article co-authored by Elliot Fisher:

ACOs consist of providers who are jointly held accountable for achieving measured quality improvements [note that “measured quality improvements” is synonymous with report cards] and reductions in the rate of spending growth. Our definition emphasizes that these cost and quality improvements must achieve overall, per capita improvements in quality and cost, and that ACOs should have at least limited accountability for achieving these improvements while caring for a defined population of patients.

ACOs may involve a variety of provider configurations, ranging from integrated delivery systems and primary care medical groups to hospital-based systems and virtual networks of physicians such as independent practice associations. All accountable care organizations should have a strong base of primary care. Hospitals should be encouraged to participate, because improving hospital care is likely to be essential to success. But in contrast to others’ definitions, we believe that this need not be an absolute requirement for all ACOs (Mark McClellan et al., “A national strategy to put accountable care into practice,” Health Affairs 2010;29:982-990).

Hmmmm....confused enough? Well, in my ongoing quest to simplify or "Englishify" everything, I'll take a stab at it in my own way. The basic premise of an ACO is this:

1. Improve Quality of Care

2. Reduce Cost

3. We will hold you accountable for 1 and 2. Simple enough? Not so fast....

Someone once told me, "if you ask a question once, you might look dumb. But if you don't ask it, you'll stay that way". So here are the questions:

1. Who is going to hold you accountable? (Let's say CMS)

2. How are they going to hold you accountable? (Let's say they come up with measures that you have to track and report)

3. Define "defined patient populations"? (This my friends, I have no idea what it means)

So my real question is, if they do come up with the answers to the questions above and define ACOs, is it an achievable goal? The answer is, Absolutely! Improving quality of care while reducing cost of care is a very achievable goal. In fact, you should do it before they make you do it! The technology exists today. All you have to do is take one look at our KnowledgePath report and go home happy knowing that you have the technology and reporting capabilities available at your fingertips.

Informatics for Improving Quality of Care

A well designed informatics platform can not only improve profitability among healthcare providers, but allow for “Improved Quality of Care”. This white paper provides the possibilities, design considerations and thought leadership in designing and implementing scalable information architecture for Healthcare Providers to improve quality of care through research. You can download the whitepaper here: http://www.metaanalytix.com/page.php?page=33

Information Based Design - Next Gen Data Warehouses

Recently, in my webinar done jointly with expressor, I was asked a question: "Is the best practice for deploying warehouses a "single, enterprise wide warehouse" or a warehouse with different data marts for each line of business?" My answer was "it depends on the client". Very simply said. As I was talking to a colleague of mine, we knew the answer wasn't that simple and we decided to write a whitepaper about it. So here we are, with a brand new, hot off the press (or Adobe for that matter), FREE whitepaper on "Information Based Design - Next Generation Data Warehouses for Healthcare providers". Here is an excerpt from the whitepaper:

"Very large companies can afford big investments and long lead times to build out new enterprise data warehouse environments. These can be several year projects that cost tens of millions of dollars, or more. Success (based on full achievement of the initial vision) is far from guaranteed. Not uncommonly, after several years, planning for the “next generation” data warehouse begins to take root and the process begins anew… Meta Analytix and End to End solutions present a white paper on Information Based, Incremental, Data Warehouse design for those organizations with limited time and budgets."

Continue to White Paper here: http://www.metaanalytix.com/page.php?page=15

Active vs. Passive Intelligence

During a recent webinar I gave, I was asked about delivering intelligence to the end user. It got me thinking as to what are the best ways to deliver information in the "I have the smallest device I can fit in my eye coolest toy that you don't have" era?

As any good technologist would do, I thought about the different types of users and how they would access information. Then I thought about "what" information they needed. So, in a healthcare informatics setting (after all, that is what we are talking about here), to me, there are two types of users who could benefit from informatics. The Active Intelligence Users and the Passive Intelligence users.

Active Intelligence:

Take an ER doc, for example. She sees a multitude of patients in a single day, works ungodly hours (trust me, I know a few) and probably works in more than one hospital. If you asked her if she is up to date on the latest research in heart conditions (after all, if you have a heart attack, you are not going to your local world renowned cardiologist, you are running to the ER), she would either laugh at you or worse, walk away in a huff, vowing never to speak to you again. Enter the words that we are all familiar with, Clinical Decision Support. This is a form of active intelligence. Delivery of information to the end user ( our heroine in this case ), at the "point of care", where she can quickly browse through the latest guidelines on heart conditions before seeing the patient or fancier still, input patient information directly into her "eyeball wearable device" and the suggestions are automagically transferred to her brain.

Passive Intelligence:

Passive intelligence in much simpler, but not any less important. We have always heard that "history is a good teacher" (whether we listen to history is another question altogether), but for the sake of this blog, let's say history is indeed, a good teacher. Who are the cool customers of this type of intelligence? Your researchers, your administrators and the people who have to run the "business of healthcare".

So, there you have it, two broad categories of intelligence (and I am sure some of you may have thought of umpteen number of other types of intelligences), but that's your problem!

Metadata for Healthcare

In my webinar, I spoke of how expressor helps you manage metadata "in-process" rather than as an afterthought. Dr. David Fenstermacher, Chair and Executive Director of the Department of Biomedical Informatics at the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute is giving a webinar on "Metadata, the cornerstone of tomorrow's healthcare information systems", a more detailed dive into the use of metadata. It's Free. You can register for the webinar here:

http://pages.expressor-software.com/metadata-the-cornerstone-for-tomorrows-healthcare-IMS-webinar.html

Meaningful Use - Final Rule - Again!

Ok,

So my sales team twisted my arm to put this on here. So, please bear with me: Here it goes.

By now, you have all read the 864 page meaningful use Final Rule and are prepared to be compliant right? Well, if not, we’d like to talk to you about Compliance Reporting for Meaningful Use.

As you may already know, there are 15 core measures that you have to electronically report to CMS to be compliant. And you may already know that a CCHIT certified EHR alone is not going to help you get there. Let us take a moment to introduce you to Meta Analytix’s comprehensive informatics platform designed specifically for Healthcare, Integra.

As a savvy executive, you already know what Informatics can bring to the table in increasing profitability, improving your organization’s competitiveness in the marketplace and having a single view of your entire organization. Some of the statistics that you may not know are these. Best in class Hospitals that have used centralized business intelligence have achieved:

* Increased profitability from 1%-9% (Aberdeen Research)

* An average of 36 days to receive payment on accounts vs. 46 days for all others (Aberdeen Research)

* A nurse turnover rate of 10% vs. 14% for all others (Aberdeen Research)

Given this scenario, how can we help? Take a look at the salient features of Integra

* Over 400 Healthcare measures pre-loaded, including meaningful use measures

* Enterprise Class ETL platform built in (http://expressor-software.com).

* Can acquire data from your EHR software, SAS, COBOL and others

* Standardized data definitions pre-loaded for Healthcare

* Flex Dimensional^TM Data Model ready for staging and reporting

* Enterprise Open Source BI platform for reporting, drill down analysis and dashboard building.

* Low Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)

* Low implementation lifecycle. (Avoid making costly purchases of individual components and building from scratch)

* Experienced Consultants to work with you to implement your informatics platform seamlessly with minimal workflow interruption

As you can see, Integra is the only informatics platform pre-built for Healthcare and ready to get you to to Meaningful Use in the quickest possible time. For additional information, please see the attached brochure or visit our website: http://www.metaanalytix.com

Contact us for a demo or for your consulting needs:

Phone: 866.611.8595 Ext. 1 or Ext. 2

Email: info@metaanalytix.com

Meaningful Use - Final Rule

The final rule for meaningful use is here, finally! The good news? Number of measures have gone down. The bad news? It is more complex to collect and report. Take for example the following stage 1 measure as defined in the final rule :

"More than 30% of unique patients with at least one medication in their medication list seen by the EP or admitted to the eligible hospital’s or CAH’s inpatient or emergency department

(POS 21 or 23) have at least one medication order entered using CPOE".

Huh? Think about it. What would the measure for this look like? Let's say the measure looks like this: "% of patients seen by EP (Eligible Professional) in Emergency Department or Inpatient with at least one medication order entered using CPOE".

Easy enough? Not so fast, my computer savvy analyst ( yes, you know who you are...usually known as the "data queen" in your organization). Think about the data elements you have to collect.

Let's break down the measure into chunks to better understand it:

1. Number of patients who was seen by an EP (Eligible Professional) - Who are eligible professionals? (We won't go into the definition here, but if you are so inclined, you can read page 358 of the meaningful use rule to find out.) Bottom line for you to make this measure work, you will have to find out the "type of provider". This information is stored where now? In your HR database, I presume?

2. Seen in an Emergency Department or Inpatient facility: Ok, so what happens if a patient was seen both by your ER and then admitted to your Inpatient facility? No matter, we can work around it, by looking at whether the patient was treated by an ER doc before she was sent to inpatient, right? Where is the data for this? Well, the EMR guys should have this info for sure, right?

3. Medications that are on the medication list ordered by CPOE. Well, the EMR guys should have this data too, correct? Great. It's 2 for EMR, one for HR!

4. Hmmmm....what is the fourth element? Do we have all we need? Not yet, data queen. To calculate this measure, you also need to know the total number of patients who were seen and who were ordered medications "without" the use of CPOE. Where is the data for that?!!! Your appointment scheduling system? Maybe your claims system? Doctors' notes?

Final score? Measure - 1. DQ - 0. The point, I am making, is invest in a really good Informatics platform. The measures are not going away and they are getting more complex. Once in place, you, my dear DQ, will be able to pull this data at the click of a button, or better still, program it to run automatically and send a PDF to your boss as an email attachment!

Vendor's view of Meaningful Use

Take a look:

http://www.healthdatamanagement.com/news/meaningful-use-final-rule-vendors-hitech-40645-1.html?ET=healthdatamanagement:e1348:144427a:&st=email&utm_source=editorial&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=HDM_Daily_072010

Informatics Webinar

So, someone really wanted me to speak about Healthcare Informatics and I complied! Here is the link to the webinar: http://www.expressor-software.com/healthcare-informatics-meta-analytics.htm

Competition

No, I didn't get lost on the golf course and am just finding my way back! A client kept me busy...imagine that! But that is not the reason for this post. The reason for this post is "Competition"! Well, if you abstract to another level, it is about "Goals".

Have I managed to confuse you yet? Well then, read on. Things are about to become clearer. So, as I was talking to a potential client, I approached him with the same questions that have listed out in these blogs. One of them was "Have you defined your measures yet?". But before he answered, he said "Kishore, my biggest problem is competition. I often make 40 cents on the dollar, there are several other clinics who offer the same services we do in the general area and I am losing my shirt. Someone suggested business intelligence as a solution, but I have no idea where to start". As I was listening to him, light bulb went off in my head! Folks, I am going to tell you something that I normally don't tell anyone...I was wrong! See, just then, I realized I had made a big assumption. I had assumed that everyone knew they WHY of informatics. Not so. So, here is step 1. Know your GOALS!

How do you define your goal? Well, you know this better than any consultant you will ever hire. Your goals may be to "Save more money" or "Comply with ARRA" or "Need to improve my quality of care". Once you know your goals for your measures, i.e, what are you going to do with them, you now have a good idea of "What to measure". Now you can define the measures and follow the steps I have outlined in my previous posts. So folks, happy "goaling"! (Is that a new word? Hmmm....need to check it!)