Keeping Patient Populations Healthy Through Big Data and Analytics

Currently, the growing aging population and rising number of those with chronic diseases contributes to 86 percent of healthcare costs in the U.S. This increasing number of patients that need care, along with the rising shortage of qualified healthcare professionals, presents major challenges in care delivery. To combat this, key stakeholders are continuously looking for ways to use advanced technologies in order to find more efficient and effective ways to improve patient outcomes. (1) 

Big data paired with analytics is one avenue being pursued in the hopes of improving care. Healthcare is finally beginning to catch up to other industries when it comes to leveraging big data. In fact, the number of patients being monitored remotely will grow annually by 48.9% and reach more than 36 million in the next five years, making it important to find ways to make all of the data being collected actionable in a way that will benefit patients. (2)

Real world applications: The ICU

In the U.S., there are five million patients in intensive care units annually3, and the amount of data that a caregiver needs to consume for just one patient is overwhelming. Without ways to pull out or highlight important data points, things can sometimes be overlooked and details can be recorded incorrectly. Mistakenly recording data can lead to errors that might otherwise have been prevented. These errors are not only pricey – costing approximately $17-29 billion per year – but also deadly. In the U.S. an estimated 44,000 to 98,000 deaths occur every year due to these preventable errors4.

As nurses and doctors continue to take on more patients, their ability to focus on every detail of a single person becomes impossible. They are facing increasing pressure to not only provide the best care possible for their patients, but also to enhance workflows and keep efficient schedules. It has become clear that current healthcare delivery models are not sustainable, and that is where the development of new ways to deliver care comes into play.

New technologies that continuously monitor patients are able to provide clinicians with a steady stream of data so that they can spot trends and intervene early to prevent adverse events. For example, early warning scoring systems can help identify patient deterioration up to six to eight hours prior to a critical event, allowing clinicians the time to proactively intervene, rather than react, to an adverse event. This gives them a safety net, providing them with the ability to care for numerous patients with the peace of mind that they will be notified early if a patient’s health begins to decline instead of relying on spot checks alone, which may not occur frequently enough. (5)

How can large amounts of data become useful?

While new technologies that allow for the easy collection of data are great, the question of what to actually do with all of the information still remains. The challenge is finding a way to filter the data in a focused way to make next steps within a care delivery process explicitly clear, keeping in mind two key attributes:  

• The data needs to be transparent and actionable, giving medical staff on all levels – from primary care to specialists – the information they need to make decisions.
• It also needs to be streamlined so clinicians can see what they need to know at a certain moment, as it is imperative that those working in critical care settings are able to make correct and timely decisions.

This type of visibility into the data at all levels allows for the creation of coordinated care teams that can use analytics to monitor for changes in patient vital signs and other factors to advise on care decisions at any point in the care process. Using analytics tools has the potential to improve patient outcomes, reduce readmissions and decrease mortality rates, as they break down the data in a way that is easy to understand but still provides caregivers with the necessary information they need to make spilt second decisions. (5)

What will big data bring for the future?

The ultimate goal for the healthcare industry is to shift towards keeping people healthy rather than simply treating them once they become sick and need care. Today, healthcare is based around adverse health episodes and acute care, making it hard for caregivers to be proactive. Leveraging big data into actionable insights is the first step towards enhancing care and effective early intervention.

An important part in making a difference is allowing information to be available to all members of a care team regardless of the setting. As patient care begins to move beyond the four walls of a hospital, improvements in connectivity and access to data among providers is enabling care to be offered in alternative locations, such as a patient’s home, at more affordable costs. Through clinically relevant data and communication, clinicians can stay updated on their patient’s health, and will be alerted to any potential complications. Although the industry has not yet achieved full interoperability, we’re making strides to move beyond siloed information and allow for the seamless sharing of data.

As consumers become increasingly interested in their own health due to the consumerization of healthcare, they will play a role in information sharing as well. Data gained over time from both personal measurement devices and professional healthcare solutions will need to be combined to create a detailed and comprehensive overview of a patient’s health. This will help put the fragmented approach to diagnosis and treatment in the rear view mirror.

1. National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Centers for Disease Control, September 27, 2016
2. mHealth and Home Monitoring, Johan Fagerberg; Lars Kurkinen, Berg Insights, September 27, 2016
3. Critical Care Statistics, Society of Critical Care Medicine, September 27, 2016
4. To Err is Human: Building a Safer Health System, Institute of Medicine, September 27, 2016
5. Improving patient safety with a modified early warning scoring system, Tara Kay Race, American Nurse Today, September 27, 2016