Plenty of healthcare data, but what to do with it?

The proliferation of mobile medical devices means providers, payers and even patients are collecting more data than ever before. But do they know what to do with it?

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That was the focus of a panel discussion at last week's Institute for Health Technology Transformation summit in Seattle. Titled "Analytics in Healthcare: Leveraging Data for Organization-wide Improvements," the discussion focused on what's considered one of the hot topics in healthcare these days: Business intelligence.

That trend is being driven by payers, according to Lynn Dunbrack, program director for IDC Health Insights, the panel's moderator. Recent surveys, she said, have indicated that three-quarters of payers think analytics is vital, and more than half have a BI strategy in place. Conversely, she said, about 44 percent of providers see the value in analytics, and only 26 percent have a BI program in place.

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Thomas Yackel, MD, an associate professor at Oregon Health Science University and chief health information officer at OHSU Healthcare, said data analysis is underappreciated at the provider level. While OHSU Healthcare may have been the first hospital in Oregon to attest for meaningful use, he said, "a lot of people don't know what (BI) is."

"We're building our own data warehouse now, but (in seeking funding for the project), we were behind people who wanted to put new carpet in waiting rooms," he said.

Steve Barlow, CIO and co-founder of Healthcare Quality Catalyst, a Salt Lake City-based developer of quality improvement solutions, said he helped launch a national data warehousing association in the '90s while at Intermountain Healthcare. "We've been at this for two decades-plus and we're still not making progress," he said.

But data analytics and business intelligence are showing up on the radar, the panelists said. With healthcare reform poised to make accountable care and improved clinical outcomes more vital, payers – and, eventually, providers – will see the value in taking collected data, analyzing it and drawing conclusions to affect future decision-making. Payers will use it to drive population-based outcomes, like preventive healthcare and wellness programs, and to justify healthcare expenses, while providers will see its value in improving clinical outcomes and reducing waste and re-admissions.

To do that, however, they need to get beyond the simple act of collecting data.

"It's not about just putting the data in there – it's about engaging in a conversation about that data," said Yackel.