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Making Sense of Business Analytics
April 2007
Executives at Pocono Medical Center were aware of long waiting times and staffing problems in the hospital's emergency department. But it wasn't until they hired health care data analysis and benchmarking firm Press Ganey Associates Inc. that they found out how bad things really were.
The South Bend, Ind.-based firm found that more than 50% of Pocono's ER patients were waiting at least four hours to be seen. Additionally, it found that the East Stroudsburg, Pa.-based hospital couldn't bill for 4% of its ER patients because of incomplete or lost charts, and it had to use outside agencies for 23% of its nurse staffing needs.
Overall, Pocono received a 20% in the Press Ganey's benchmark ranking, which meant that 80% of the facilities the firm analyzed had higher patient satisfaction ratings in the emergency departments.
"We weren't happy where we were at," says Marian Moran, vice president and CIO. "We knew we could do a lot better."
Pocono executives concluded that paper charts made it difficult to complete accurate and timely analysis on specific ER workflow trends that might be causing the problems highlighted by the benchmarking firm. So they decided to purchase an emergency department information system from Wakefield, Mass.-based Picis Inc., to automate the department.
The executives also hoped the system's data analysis tools could help them discover where workflow problems were originating and fix them, Moran says. They used the tools to measure various ER workflow metrics, such as how many patients were treated at various times of the day or week and how long it took them to go through each step of the care process.
"We used the system to find out where the funnel was closing in terms of throughput for ER patients," Moran says. "We found out how sick the patients were and how we managed to create such inefficiencies."
Using business analytics technology to measure and improve clinical performance is increasingly common among provider organizations that recently have implemented and become comfortable with using electronic medical records software and other automated systems, says Mike Tressler, COO at Healthia Consulting, Minneapolis.
Business analytics tools are designed to help organizations compare and analyze targeted elements within their data. In health care, the technology is often used to help improve financial operations by measuring revenue cycle time, analyzing claims denials, profiling various payer contracts and comparing other financial data metrics. Many providers have been able to increase revenue and savings by detecting and fixing errors in claims and billing data, in addition to other revenue cycle improvements.
But some organizations have decided they're ready to use similar tools on their clinical data to try to increase patient safety and operational efficiency, as well as unearth ways to potentially cut costs and increase revenue, Tressler says.
"Once providers automate their clinical information, they look at ways they can get more value out of the data," he explains. "Many already have figured the value they can get by analyzing financial data. Clinical data is more complex and more meaningful."
Getting started
Pocono Medical Center executives realized the value of clinical business analytics after the technology helped them analyze their ER admissions and revise staffing levels to handle the ebb and flow of activity.
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