Big Data is the Hidden Treasure
It’s no secret that data analytics is prevalent in essentially every industry, but you may be wondering what the big deal about big data really is and how it concerns you as a senior living provider.
Data analytics holds enormous potential for any business. Understanding metrics related to your specific environment, the tasks being performed, and the results of certain practices can help you make real-time and long-term adjustments, as well as better inform you for efficient planning and decision-making.
The Missed Opportunities & Potential of Data
Unfortunately, only 3% of LTPAC organizations are able to leverage data analytics that would help reduce costs or prevent readmissions, and 24% of post-acute care providers have “very little” ability to access/share patient data electronically, leading to missed out opportunities in operational and care improvements.
Post-acute and senior living organizations should be no exception to the collection and use of data analytics. Why? Because not only can data analytics streamline facility and organizational operations—which can boost your bottom line—but data analytics can also improve your caregivers’ ability to notice health-related adverse events and outcomes among residents so they can better understand why they are happening. And as a healthcare organization, it’s your job to keep your residents healthy and safe for as long as possible.
When you use EHRs to carefully track incidents likes falls, heart attacks, and hospitalizations, you can begin to recognize things about your facility and care that may be contributing to negative health outcomes and what’s helping to minimize them. Is it the design of the environment, staffing composition, specific timeframe, a preceding event, etc. that is a commonality? Finding these contributing factors can then lead to targeted remediation and resolution.
Once targeted solutions are applied to factors impacting senior and Senior Living and Post-Acute Care residents’ health, organizations will likely see improvements in the quality of care (and life) for them, which better aligns with the patient driven payment model and value-based care. For instance, you may discover that seniors who go to certain exercise sessions are less likely to experience falls or observe that minimizing salt in the menu lowers the number of heart attacks in the facility.
Health-related data analytics even have the potential to pinpoint changes that tend to precede adverse events, especially if wearables are recording resident data. In fact, a team was able to use data analytics to identify that heart rates during sleep that rose above 90 beats per minute were a red flag for a range of harmful conditions among their patients. Knowing that allows caregivers to take action and get the patient to a physician for care before the issue worsens.
That’s all great information, but how can my Senior Living and Post-Acute Care organization be fully ready and able to make the most of data analytics related to patient health information?
Senior living and Senior Living and Post-Acute Care organizations will need to be willing to adapt and commit to using new technology, particularly when it comes to leveraging big data analytics to advance care. With a data driven system it is vital to keep any and all health records up-to-date and accurate so critical personal health information (PHI) can be further aggregated and analyzed for in-depth interpretation.
Bringing in a trusted IT partner with a deep understanding of technology in senior living and Senior Living and Post-Acute Care facilities can help ensure your organization has the right network and infrastructure in place to support data collection, analysis, and reporting.
A well-functioning network is at the core of a facility’s IT ecosystem, as it enables the efficient and effective use of devices and software (e.g., EHR, eMAR, business intelligence tools, and other analytics applications) while also streamlining access to the collected and stored data. Technology changes quickly. A technology partner like vcpi can update, manage and support your existing network, or design and configure a new network with your needs and budget in mind.
An optimally designed infrastructure also plays a major role in leveraging the power of big data. Senior living and Senior Living and Post-Acute Care operators can utilize vcpi resources for data warehousing and our experts can help you create organization specific dashboards to track critical metrics. Storing your data with vcpi reduces I/O and delivers query results quickly to many users simultaneously. Having this infrastructure in place enhances the ability to query and process large amounts of data to identify meaningful relationships and trends, giving you more insight with less manpower.
Don’t miss out on the big opportunities linked to big data. Enlist vcpi on your side to ensure your senior living or Senior Living and Post-Acute Care organization is ready to make the most of the data available at your fingertips.
Contact vcpi today to learn more and if you’re ready to have your company’s KPIs close to hand.
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