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How data analytics is used in healthcare

How data analytics is used in healthcare

It’s critical for the healthcare sector to have access to the most recent information, including everything from diagnostic information from patients and clinical research findings, to insights about operations and cost.

Leaders in the healthcare sector and even front-line employees can make life-changing decisions quickly and precisely using modern data analytics technologies. However, the Healthcare Analytics platforms deployed must be equipped with advanced healthcare data dashboard tools that present findings clearly and effectively. 

This article will explain how Vizlib can enhance Qlik Sense data analytics to improve patient outcomes and provide a single source of truth for healthcare teams looking to take meaningful action.

How data analytics can improve patient care

Person-centered care isn’t a new ideology. The term was first coined by Hippocrates over 2000 years ago. However, more recently, it has become an increasingly vital operational framework for healthcare teams and has even been ratified in UK law since 2013

Healthcare Analytics plays a fundamental role in providing person-centred care. So, with that in mind, here are some examples of how Healthcare Data analytics can facilitate better outcomes for all parties involved: 

Speeds up patient data processing to support medical decision-making

Recent research shows that 75% of medical professionals believe Cloud-based analytics tools can help medical practitioners make better point-of-care choices. For example, it can be used to measure who is coming in and going out of operating theatres – highly crucial and time-sensitive data points that require a reliable platform for compiling and disseminating Clinical Intelligence.

To use a real-life case study example of Cloud-based analytics providing crucial healthcare information, WWL NHS Foundation Trust uses Vizlib + Qlik Sense to support workflows in its busy A&E departments. 

More specifically, the Vizlib Collaboration tool lets doctors share best practice tips through alerts via one centralised dashboard. This helps move patients through their treatment plans successfully, providing medical teams with the information they need when they need it.

Mark Singleton, WWL’s head of Business Intelligence and Acting Associate Director of IM&T, praised Vizlib Collabroation’s ability to send vital messages and alerts to medical teams instantly. He said that it enabled, “Faster and more effective communication and, ultimately, better care for patients.”

Maintain safe and secure patient data storage

Medical histories and medication records used to be stored on paper. However, with electronic data storage methods now available, all of this information (and more) can be shared electronically, making it easier for healthcare staff to find the information they need quickly and adapt to changing data protection requirements. 

To illustrate, data governance regulations (such as HIPAA in the US and the UK’s   Records Management Code of Practice) stipulate that all sensitive patient data should be stored in a secure system to prevent confidential information from falling into the wrong hands. 

Qlik Sense and Vizlib products comply with the latest data protection legislation. Therefore, it provides healthcare professionals with the governance capabilities needed to protect electronic patient information. Plus, the system makes patient records more accessible for medical teams to analyse to help them provide better person-centered care. To find out more about how vital data security is to healthcare teams, read this article

How Data Analytics can help healthcare professionals

Healthcare Data Dashboards can be utilised by many professionals in the industry, including physicians, hospital administrators and executives, insurance companies, and medical researchers. 

With that in mind, the best analytics platforms must account for all possible data use cases and come equipped with the right data gathering and visualization tools to ensure the information is digestible for all stakeholders. 

Here are some examples of how a wide range of healthcare organisations can utilise Data Analytics to improve their daily operations: 

Healthcare Analytics strengthens medical research

Qlik Sense can pull data from electronic health records and third-party sources to identify information such as the likelihood of adverse reactions to certain medications, risk of contagion, or broader public health risks. 

With this information at hand, healthcare professionals can use a tool like Vizlib to present this information in an easy-to-digest format. 

For example, Life Sciences leaders, including Novartis and Novo Nordisk, use Vizlib Self-Service  to discuss data points within a centralised dashboard to further their research. The information is stored in a temporary cache, allowing teams to create forecasts without compromising the source data sets. At a later date, once the information is verified, Vizlib Server can be used to upload the information to an organisation’s permanent Cloud data storage solution. 

These tools ensure that teams can collaborate and make a hypothesis, optimising business opportunities and their potential to save lives. To find out more about how Vizlib + Qlik Sense can help you unlock more insight from Healthcare Data Dashboards, read this article

Data reporting technologies help minimise risk

Alongside safeguarding sensitive patient data, healthcare providers must also ensure they protect and provide a clean financial audit trail to third-party insurance vendors and/or independent auditors.

Analytics tools can ensure health and business administration data is maintained to the highest compliance standards. 

For example, financial teams at healthcare companies can use a tool like Vizlib Finance to spot trends in numbers that may point to instances of medical insurance fraud. 

Alternatively, Qlik Sense analytics users can use Vizlib to enhance data visualization capabilities and spot new upselling or cross-selling opportunities. 

Phoenix LV is a market leader in pharmaceutical distribution within the Czech Republic; they use Vizlib to analyse profit margins and share their findings with logistics teams to improve their operations. 

Phoenix LV Data Engineer Karel Lebr notes that Vizlib’s data reporting tools have made the process of creating P&L reports easier: 

“Before switching to Qlik Sense and Vizlib, all the P&Ls were delivered in Excel tables. So it took a long time and was not dynamic…[with Vizlib] It’s simpler to get into and answer your business questions,” he said. 

What is the future of data in healthcare?

The next generation of Healthcare Analytics is a move towards Predictive Analytics  capabilities. This is where physicians can use Big Data sources (such as wearable devices and cutting-edge genetic research) to predict patient outcomes.

From these data sources, enhanced Healthcare Analysis platforms can create personalised healthcare plans to prevent illness and disease from taking hold, or they can provide in-depth information to help medical teams treat patients more effectively. 

However, for Predictive Analytics in healthcare to become the norm in improving patient outcomes, healthcare providers need to curate data management strategies capable of gathering, safeguarding, and generating valuable data insights that can be shared with relevant parties.

According to encouraging research from Bain & Company, 45% of healthcare institutions have accelerated their software investment in the past year, with only 10% of providers reducing their IT spending. 

This may be due, in part, to the impact COVID-19 had on people’s perception of technology in the healthcare industry as a whole. For instance, through 2020 and beyond, patients have become increasingly used to interacting with technologies such as Telehealth platforms, which enable patients to consult with medical professionals online via video chat, telephone or text message. 

In a patient survey conducted in the US, only 8% of respondents had used Telehealth technologies before the pandemic hit. However, by November 2021, 73% of people said that they felt very comfortable interacting electronically with medical teams going forward. 

These figures show that in recent years, improving IT infrastructure (with the addition of Cloud analytics tools like Qlik Sense and Vizlib) is becoming more of a priority for healthcare providers. They now feel confident in deploying technologies that help them avoid relying on historical data, favouring a more active and Big Data-driven approach to improving patient care. 

How to level up data analytics in healthcare with Vizlib

In summary, unlocking more insight into healthcare data with Qlik Sense + Vizlib can help teams provide better patient outcomes faster and with more control over how vital information is shared between medical teams and patients.

For Qlik Sense users, Vizlib provides a low-code intuitive user interface designed to improve data literacy and democratise the data analytics process without relying on qualified Data Analysts to gather and prepare healthcare data dashboards beforehand. 

With features such as Vizlib Writeback Table and Vizlib Self-Service, healthcare teams with all levels of technical expertise can safely create tables, Big Data visualizations, and predictive models based on analytic findings. All without compromising patient confidentiality and information governance protocols. 

Furthermore, solutions such as Vizlib Activity Gauge can integrate data from third-party sources like Apple Health, helping healthcare brands adopt cutting-edge Healthcare Analytics practices to future-proof their organisations. 

So if you want to learn more about Vizlib and how it can help turn your healthcare organisation into a data champion, sign up for a free demo now.

Set your data free. Unlock the power of Qlik Cloud. Vizlib enhances the capabilities of data visualization and analytics to give you unparalleled insight, so you can know faster and act sooner.

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