Practical Strategies to Improve Care - Measuring Outcomes

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Officials managing the skyrocketing costs of growing public health programs in all parts of the world are becoming more proactive in seeking to control costs and improve quality. Government spending on healthcare has been on the rise since at least 1990 in the G7 economies, as seen in graph below.

In the U.S., Medicare expenditures are projected to reach nearly $900 billion by 2018.8 Between 2000 and 2025, experts predict that the Medicare population will grow at four times the rate of the “employed” population between ages 18 and 64.9 The sum of all non-private hospital expenditures is likely to reach over $1 trillion by 2015.10

To cope with the growing public burden, countries like the U.K. and Australia are becoming more proactive in managing the costs of healthcare products and services, including deeper engagement with providers and more strategic contracting.

The Cen­ter for Medicare and Medicaid Services already requires that hospitals report quality information in order to receive full reimbursements, and a wave of new regulations in connection with the 2010 Affordable Care Act carry significant implications for all players in the healthcare sector.

Trends Impacting Healthcare.

• New and changing government regulations: HIPAA, Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act, Security, Meaningful Use Requirements
• Fragmented document and records management
• Inefficient, paper-based manual processes and workflows
• Reporting processes can be fragmented, costly and time-consuming
• Remote access is limited and not secure
• Maintaining privacy and security of patient data is a significant concern

Practical Strategies to Improve Care - Measuring Outcomes

Historically, clinicians have relied primarily on traditional biomedical measures, such as the results of laboratory tests, to determine whether a health intervention is necessary and whether it is successful. Researchers have discovered, however, that when they use only these measures, they miss many of the outcomes that matter most to patients. Hence, outcomes research also measures how people function and their experiences with care

Healthcare Organizations use their Data Assets to improve Performance.

To compete effectively in today’s adverse economic environment, a healthcare organization must be able to access and manage data effectively across the enterprise; without the ability to drive insight and action, data is nothing but overhead. The more efficient an organization is at using data assets to create a clear strategy for action, the better positioned it will be to adapt swiftly to changes and prevent potential problems from escalating.

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