Healthcare organizations have changed -- and the progress is amazing!

The organization, skills and the ability to execute are vastly improved and the trend is accelerating.  The people populating the executive suite and those in operational roles are more adept than at any time in my 30 years of serving the healthcare industry.  To be sure, the challenges the healthcare industry faces have become more profound, more complex, more numerous and amazingly – originate from more sources - than at any time in history.   The challenges and issues may originate in economics, politics, demographics, regulation or public perception.

The progress in development of culture, process, collaboration, and efficiencies is accomplished even without good information systems.  We recently conducted a broad study regarding patient safety and quality.  Patient Safety and Quality practices have life-and-death consequences for patients and also provide the opportunity to enhance or destroy operating margins.  The cultural and process changes can be implemented to great effect, but the lack of adequate information systems hinder embedding the improvements in the care setting.  In most instances, data required of regulatory and watchdog agencies are sourced from re-purposed billing or coding data, or through paper compilation of static studies.   This is akin to flying an airplane by looking at last week’s weather reports.  You may get there on the skill and perception of the flight crew, but your chances of a safe journey would be much better with real time information.

Some of the technology and information is in place.  More of it has been developed and is waiting to be implemented or optimized.  Now is time to knit the data systems to supply the best information where it is needed, when it is needed, and in the current and correct form.