By Jon Hamdorf

In recent years, talk of healthcare analytics -- the use of data, information, statistical and qualitative analysis and explanatory and predictive modeling to improve patient care and care outcomes -- has dominated industry conversations.

Our hospitals and care facilities operate in a world of Big Data, collecting masses of information and statistics about patients, procedures and prognoses. But then what? Data collection without analytics is virtually useless.
Analytics allow healthcare organizations to sort through this barrage of data, understand the implications of collected clinical, financial and operational information, and deliver on the demands of patients, executives, government entities and care providers.

Knowing where to start your facility's analytics push can be overwhelming. How do you establish metrics and scorecards? How do you determine the differences between business intelligence and predictive analytics? How do you overcome institutional demands? The challenges identified in developing and executing an analytics strategy are many: both data and organizationally driven.

I have identified a few key themes and ideas surrounding the planning and implementation of an enterprise analytics strategy and developed three questions to ask yourself and your organization before you begin planning a healthcare analytics framework for your facility:

1.) Is there executive-level buy-in across the organization?

The first challenge in getting executive buy-in is outlay in the cost necessary to build out the analytics infrastructure and achieve the maximum results from investment of time, talent and resources. Although it seems counterintuitive, some executives may resist an investment in analytics. For example, imagine an organization that just spent $50 or $100 million on an electronic medical records (EMR) system. Executives expect inherent analytic value from that purchase. Instead, however, most organizations find after EMR implementation, the need for analytics remains, and in fact, may even be more essential than before because there is more solid data to work with. The best analogy I have heard in support of purchasing analytic tools and hiring analytic resources above and beyond the EMR is this: imagine you have just purchased a $100,000 sports car. Would you not buy a $100 GPS system to make sure you know which way to drive it? Analytics serves as the GPS to drive the direction in which you provide care to your patients and the way in which you handle the financial transactions involved in providing care.

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