From the September 2017 issue of HealthCare Business News magazine

Once a data roadmap is established there are still necessary next steps to ensure that organizations are creating goals and then aligning around them. Many health care organizations fall flat on their data analytics investment because they don’t engage or create strategies around the insights it derives.

To create a robust, successful program that maps to VBC, health care organizations need to put in place the following approaches:

• Creating organizational and cultural alignment. Data analytics is a large investment. As such, from the C-suite to administrators, everyone in the health care organization needs to commit to insights and implement them into their day-to-day workflow as a requirement.


• Establishing organization-wide goals around insight. Data should be used as a guide to understand where health care organizations stand in their journey toward VBC and what programs need to be implemented to get them closer. One example of an organizational goal is around population health, specifically medication adherence in diabetic populations. Diabetes, a chronic condition, can lead to about $8,000 in medical costs per person per year. There is a huge cost saving opportunity by limiting the number of diabetic patients who revisit their physicians with complications from a lack of medication adherence. These goals will vary from organization to organization, but understanding the opportunities available will outline the steps needed to drive value.

• Collaborating with providers across the whole care continuum. Once goals and metrics are outlined, individuals within the health care organization need to work together to ensure they are marching toward them. In the example of diabetic patients, here are a few ways to garner whether an organization is mapping to its goal: Are patient visits to the ER reduced? Are fewer patients coming to appointments with fewer complications from diabetes? Communicating and tracking progress around goals will ensure that the health care organization is on the right track.

The transition to VBC will continue regardless of political or industry climate. To ensure a successful transition, organizations must continue investments in analytics technology to better leverage the vast amounts of data available. Many health organizations face the enormous data hurdle toward value, but through technology, alignment, communication and goal setting they can succeed.


About the author: Ron Iller is the director of product management at RelayHealth, where he is responsible for P&L as well as strategic product management of the McKesson Performance Analytics and Explorer suite of products.

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