Logicalis US to Healthcare CIOs: Meaningful Use Stage 3 Planning Starts Now

NEW YORK, Feb. 24, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Hospitals are being judged not just on the quality of care they provide, but also on their ability to reduce costs and improve care coordination. Analytics enables organizations to make data-driven business decisions that can do just that. Logicalis US, an international IT solutions and managed services provider (www.us.logicalis.com), has identified four tips for implementing and managing data analytics solutions that will give healthcare executives the ability to make informed decisions leading to improved patient care and greater efficiencies across clinical, operational and financial business units.

"Analytics is actually tied to meaningful use mandates, particularly the future planned requirements of Meaningful Use, Stage 3," says Ed Simcox, Healthcare Business Leader, Logicalis Healthcare Solutions. "Stage 1 was about data capture and patient access. Stage 2 is largely about care coordination and clinical processes. Stage 3 will be about improved clinical and financial outcomes. That means hospitals will need to be able to make informed clinical and administrative decisions using clinical decision support for high-priority conditions, measuring and improving quality through prevention and early intervention, and using data to understand population health dynamics. As we move through Stage 2 and into Stage 3, the use of healthcare analytics will become increasingly relevant. It's important that healthcare CIOs plan now for the analytics they will need for Meaningful Use Stage 3 in 2016."

Four Tips for Meaningful Healthcare Analytics

1. Identify the kind of data to target and create a strategic analytics plan.  Determine what business and clinical questions need to be answered. Then, assess what type of analytics are required. Real-time business intelligence? Predictive analytics to benefit clinical outcomes for targeted conditions? Data that provides insight into a targeted patient population? Certain types of analytics are expensive and more difficult to implement. Weigh the benefit of each desired analytics use case against the cost and complexity of the proposed solution. Once the use cases are defined and prioritized, a strategic analytics plan needs to be created. This plan should be co-owned by all major stakeholders, and shared with key decision makers.
2. Establish data governance policies.  Building a foundation for actionable data that stakeholders in the organization trust requires strong "data governance." The best analytics tools are ineffective without this. Adopt a data governance model as part of your analytics strategy, including a governing body comprised of clinical, administrative, and IT stakeholders; formal data management processes; and a written operational plan, detailing roles and responsibilities for capturing, curating, and managing enterprise data. Funding of analytics initiatives should also be addressed. Data governance is an ongoing initiative, not a one-time event or project.
3. Determine appropriate access to the specified data. Conduct readiness assessments of target data systems. Then, decide where data will reside and be queried – for example, in an enterprise data warehouse or in the data's native location.
4. Create output of data in a meaningful and useful format. The measure of success in a healthcare analytics solution is in the eye of the beholder – in this case, the administrator or clinician relying on this data to make their decisions. Make a point of periodically reviewing the usefulness of reports and data with these stakeholders and improving them.

Want to Learn More?

• Explore the Logicalis healthcare web site, then download a data sheet about healthcare analytics here: http://ow.ly/JcJKw.
• Knowledge is power; find out what hurdles you face in developing a big data strategy, then learn how to win the race for real-time business analytics in a Logicalis eBook, "The Need for Speed": http://ow.ly/JcIBl.
• Examine six concerns keeping healthcare CIOs up at night, then listen to Ed Simcox's interview, "Lowering the Risk in Healthcare IT," on the Healthcare Insider radio network: http://ow.ly/Bnsps.

About Logicalis
Logicalis is an international IT solutions and managed services provider with a breadth of knowledge and expertise in communications and collaboration, data center and cloud services, and managed services.

Logicalis employs over 3,800 people worldwide, including highly trained service specialists who design, specify, deploy and manage complex IT infrastructures to meet the needs of almost 6,000 corporate and public sector customers. To achieve this, Logicalis maintains strong partnerships with technology leaders such as Cisco, HP, IBM, CA Technologies, EMC, NetApp, Microsoft, VMware and ServiceNow.

The Logicalis Group has annualized revenues of $1.6 billion from operations in Europe, North America, Latin America and Asia Pacific and is one of the leading IT and communications solution integrators specializing in the areas of advanced technologies and services.

The Logicalis Group is a division of Datatec Limited, listed on the Johannesburg and London AIM Stock Exchanges, with revenues of approximately $6 billion.

For more information, visit www.us.logicalis.com.

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Media contacts:
Lisa Dreher, VP, Marketing & Business Development,
Logicalis US
[email protected]
425-201-8111
www.us.logicalis.com

Karen Franse, Communication Strategy Group for Logicalis US
[email protected] 
866-997-2424
www.gocsg.com

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SOURCE Logicalis US

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