| | June 20158UTLOOK Healthcare Tech Leveraging Data and Analytics to Measure, Benchmark, and Transform Healthcare SystemsBy E. Kolker, PhD, Chief Data Officer, Seattle Children's (Hospital-Research Institute-Foundation)We all agree that it's time to make fundamental transformations in the delivery, cost effectiveness, and quality of healthcare. No one is immune. In fact, there are so many areas of concern that it's difficult for even the most experienced healthcare systems to know where to begin. Healthcare's Triple Aim--improving patient care, including outcomes and satisfaction; reducing the per capita cost of healthcare; and improving the health of the general population--is achievable, but the question so often asked is: How? The answer: Apply data and analytics to enable decisions and actions based not only on expertise, intuition, and gut feeling, but also data. This will ensure that we effectively measure, benchmark, and transform healthcare for our patients, families, providers, and payers. One place to begin is with an analysis of the current status of healthcare through clinical outcome metrics and benchmarking. Clinical outcome metrics quantify our top priority, patient care, in a way that allows for examination and improvement. The widespread adoption of EHRs, however bumpy the process has been, makes the data needed for such metrics available. Benchmarking requires additional information--a standardized set of data across hospitals, systems, and networks that when aggregated enables comparisons both within and between the participating groups. Integrating this information with organizational knowledge and insight enables the development of specific recommendations and effective strategies to improve and innovate, healthcare systems.The majority of healthcare enterprises participate in one of the most popular performance benchmarks in the United States--U.S. News and World Report (USNWR). Not without its limitations, USNWR surveys rank hospitals as well as individual specialties (service lines) every year. Annually, IN MY OPINION"Without data you're just another person with opinion" W. Edwards Deming
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