HIMSS 2015
HIMSS 2015: Three big data innovators you need to know
April 15, 2015
by Gus Iversen, Editor in Chief
Finding value in big data is an essential part of health reform, and this year at HIMSS there are a few innovative companies bringing new analytical insight to their unique market segments.
Only a few years ago, data as we know it was little more than an incidental side effect of digital technology; a happy accident of informatics. Those days are long gone now, but gone too are the days of expecting data to automatically divulge its treasures.
This week at McCormick Place in Chicago, HIMSS attendees realize that data has little value without a system to process, filter, and interpret it. EHR vendors have been grappling with this fact for years — as has the image viewing and archiving segment — but new offerings for remote patient monitoring, consumer-end health analytics, and business intelligence for hospital metrics, may indicate a new level of maturity in how the industry as a whole processes data.
DOTmed News spent two days walking the floor at HIMSS; speaking with vendors, catching up with colleagues, and attending educational sessions. There was a lot of information to process — which is fitting for an industry so absorbed in data analytics.
Here are three data innovators that stood out:
Intelligent remote patient monitoring
Sentrian is showcasing a new cloud-based system that may bring a new level of insight to remote patient monitoring. According to their chief medical scientist, Dr. Martin Kohn, Sentrian's new platform takes a more diverse range of analytics than other systems on the market and can predict patient deterioration days in advance.
By utilizing machine learning, (Kohn was formerly chief medical scientist for IBM's Watson project) Sentrian can integrate with a variety of biosensors and wearable devices to intelligently target diagnostic problems before they would otherwise be detected. Ultimately, a system like this can cut a hospital visit off at the pass, saving money and possibly lives.
Adding medical credibility to consumer health
While most consumer health analytics exist in a realm entirely outside of the EHR, Mana Health is taking a dive into uncharted waters with their HIPAA compliant ManaCloud system. Through a simple user interface, the system allows physician-authenticated patients to contribute actively to their health record as they go about their day.
Chris Bradley, Mana Health's CEO, told DOTmed News there are currently 1.7 million health records in the Healthcare Access San Antonio health information exchange which their portal can connect with, and another rollout underway in New York. By allowing patients electronic access to their data, the ManaCloud system also meets Meaningful Use Stage 3 requirements recently set forth by CMS.
Reading new insight into facility budgets
In health care we tend to think of big data in terms of patient diagnostics. While that data may yield financial benefits through better outcomes, a company called Visiquate is providing next-generation business analytic solutions for the explicit goal of improving a hospital's bottom line.
The company counts Cleveland Clinic among the clients utilizing their actionable workflows and interpretive data processes for generating meaningful cost comprehension. Brian Robertson, founder and CEO, says a key feature of Visiquate's solution is the way it encourages collaboration among team members. In a sense, they provide diagnostic insight on the hospital itself.
Efficient, affordable, better...
There is an entrepreneurial synergy among the 40,000-plus attendees and 1,326 exhibitors at HIMSS 2015. It's as if several companies are inching ever-closer to that singular innovation that will finally unlock a health care revolution. For many of the visitors in Chicago this week, a complete package of data — and a perfect system for comprehending all of it — could hold the key to making that happen.
In some ways, it's like mapping the genome. Or better yet, it's like stepping outside of the Matrix. That's what it will mean when data truly sings — and at HIMSS this year new chords are being struck and new harmonies are forming. From a business standpoint, the fact that nobody has pinned the tail squarely on the donkey makes a conference like this all the more exciting.
Only a few years ago, data as we know it was little more than an incidental side effect of digital technology; a happy accident of informatics. Those days are long gone now, but gone too are the days of expecting data to automatically divulge its treasures.
This week at McCormick Place in Chicago, HIMSS attendees realize that data has little value without a system to process, filter, and interpret it. EHR vendors have been grappling with this fact for years — as has the image viewing and archiving segment — but new offerings for remote patient monitoring, consumer-end health analytics, and business intelligence for hospital metrics, may indicate a new level of maturity in how the industry as a whole processes data.
DOTmed News spent two days walking the floor at HIMSS; speaking with vendors, catching up with colleagues, and attending educational sessions. There was a lot of information to process — which is fitting for an industry so absorbed in data analytics.
Here are three data innovators that stood out:
Intelligent remote patient monitoring
Sentrian is showcasing a new cloud-based system that may bring a new level of insight to remote patient monitoring. According to their chief medical scientist, Dr. Martin Kohn, Sentrian's new platform takes a more diverse range of analytics than other systems on the market and can predict patient deterioration days in advance.
By utilizing machine learning, (Kohn was formerly chief medical scientist for IBM's Watson project) Sentrian can integrate with a variety of biosensors and wearable devices to intelligently target diagnostic problems before they would otherwise be detected. Ultimately, a system like this can cut a hospital visit off at the pass, saving money and possibly lives.
Adding medical credibility to consumer health
While most consumer health analytics exist in a realm entirely outside of the EHR, Mana Health is taking a dive into uncharted waters with their HIPAA compliant ManaCloud system. Through a simple user interface, the system allows physician-authenticated patients to contribute actively to their health record as they go about their day.
Chris Bradley, Mana Health's CEO, told DOTmed News there are currently 1.7 million health records in the Healthcare Access San Antonio health information exchange which their portal can connect with, and another rollout underway in New York. By allowing patients electronic access to their data, the ManaCloud system also meets Meaningful Use Stage 3 requirements recently set forth by CMS.
Reading new insight into facility budgets
In health care we tend to think of big data in terms of patient diagnostics. While that data may yield financial benefits through better outcomes, a company called Visiquate is providing next-generation business analytic solutions for the explicit goal of improving a hospital's bottom line.
The company counts Cleveland Clinic among the clients utilizing their actionable workflows and interpretive data processes for generating meaningful cost comprehension. Brian Robertson, founder and CEO, says a key feature of Visiquate's solution is the way it encourages collaboration among team members. In a sense, they provide diagnostic insight on the hospital itself.
Efficient, affordable, better...
There is an entrepreneurial synergy among the 40,000-plus attendees and 1,326 exhibitors at HIMSS 2015. It's as if several companies are inching ever-closer to that singular innovation that will finally unlock a health care revolution. For many of the visitors in Chicago this week, a complete package of data — and a perfect system for comprehending all of it — could hold the key to making that happen.
In some ways, it's like mapping the genome. Or better yet, it's like stepping outside of the Matrix. That's what it will mean when data truly sings — and at HIMSS this year new chords are being struck and new harmonies are forming. From a business standpoint, the fact that nobody has pinned the tail squarely on the donkey makes a conference like this all the more exciting.