Healthcare software is an incredibly complex industry with unique consumer demands—ones that it must constantly evolve to meet at real risk of life-or-death situations.
And if you need an example of where Big Data is making the world better, you don’t need to look any further than the healthcare industry.
Healthcare data solutions can do more than just give doctors a list of numbers. They can provide lifesaving information at critical junctures that improve patient care and cut down on your organization’s healthcare costs.
Not convinced? Here are three key advantages to using Big Data in your healthcare data solutions.
Improving Care for High-Risk Patients
As more patients seek healthcare, the cost of caring for those patients puts an ever-greater strain on the healthcare system. This is especially true of high-risk, high-cost patients.
Just 5% of the patient population drives nearly half of the nation’s healthcare spending. The top 1% account for more than 20% of healthcare costs—patients that bear the highest clinical risk and are also the most expensive to treat. These are often patients at the end of their lives, suffering severe injury or illness whose time in intensive care is characterized by managing complications rather than recovery.
This is where Big Data can change the game.
Big Data offers an unprecedented opportunity to change the way we treat high-risk patients. By digitizing all patient records and providing hospitals the tools to synthesize data and recognize emerging patient patterns, Big Data makes it easier for healthcare organizations to proactively identify chronic conditions and reduce the need for ongoing emergency care.
Real-Time Alerts
Part of this process includes building functionality through real-time alerting. There are two stages to this.
The first is preventative. Predictive analytics software can collect data from health monitoring devices (like wearables) in real time and alert a doctor when it identifies a concerning trend, like a worrisome rise or drop in blood pressure.
When a doctor gets these notifications, they can reach out to the patient immediately and administer measures to fix the issue. This is an ideal situation for hospitals and healthcare providers, as they can keep patients out of emergency care and avoid expensive in-house treatments.
The other side is responsive alerts. If a patient is already in the hospital, support software can analyze patient information on the spot and alert doctors to critical issues or significant changes so that they can act immediately.
Collaboration to Improve Patient Outcomes
Finally, Big Data offers healthcare providers the opportunity to improve collaboration to create better patient outcomes.
Consumers already have an interest in health-related smart devices, such as smart watches or Fitbits that record their steps, heart rate, and other basic health information. When combined with other trackable health data, doctors can use this information to identify potential health problems before they become a serious issue.
With the right health data management, doctors can easily see and interpret this information. And because data from these devices can be made available to any of the patient’s doctors, it’s easy for doctors to track information and collaborate with each other to build a timeline and an effective treatment plan to address all aspects of the problem.
And that leads into better patient outcomes—and reduced long-term healthcare costs.
Leveraging Big Data Solutions for Your Patients
Big Data can do so much more than predict your new favorite TV show or what shirt you’re likely to buy. It can also save lives—if your healthcare organization knows how to leverage it.
That’s where we come in. Lifepoint Informatics offers key clinical data integration solutions that give your organization the tools you need to provide better patient care every time. Instead of worrying about fighting with your data management technology, you can use intuitive data solutions to do what you do best: taking care of your patients.
Want to find out how we can help? You can request a demo or request information via our contact page.