Health care providers and payers have limited expectations that clinical data analytics can boost patient care and reduce costs, according to a recent study from HIMSS Analytics, Health Data Management reports.
HIMSS Analytics is the not-for-profit research unit of the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society. The study -- sponsored by California-based Anvita Health, a vendor of clinical data analytics software -- is based on a focus group study of CMOs and chief medical informatics officers at various payer and provider organizations.
Use of Clinical Analytics
Payers and health care providers said that they believe clinical analytics can help manage reimbursement risk.
They also said that the "meaningful use" incentive payments included in the 2009 federal stimulus package will help drive the use of more advanced clinical analytics technology (Goedert, Health Data Management, 6/10).
Obstacles for Improved Use of Clinical Analytics
According to the focus group participants, obstacles for better use of clinical data include:
- Clinical data existing in multiple codes and formats and on paper;
- Missing critical data elements; and
- The cost of clinical analytics outweighing the benefits.
The study participants also noted that most clinical data was analyzed retrospectively and that there was little use of data for real-time decision making (Monegain, Healthcare IT News, 6/11).