Perscription for Change

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Doctors, patients, and other decision makers need access to the best available clinical evidence, which can come from systematic reviews, experimental trials, and observational research.

A new information value chain—built on evidence-based insights—is emerging that could reconcile the divergent interests within the US healthcare industry. The ultimate beneficiary: the patient.

Currently, the US healthcare industry consists of producers (for example, pharmaceutical companies and medical device makers), payers (insurance companies, HMOs), providers (hospitals, pharmacies and physicians) and government— all working across the system in an uneasy, inefficient and often ineffective alliance.

To realize business value, each party relies on a limited, highly specific set of data and analyses. Few take a systematic, holistic view of all of the evidence within a standardized framework.  In fact, while some stakeholders might see the potential uses of an expanded data set as an opportunity to collaborate, others view it as a threat to their business interests.

Courtesy of Accenture - Perscription for Change

We are entering an era where advancement of technology combined with the maturity of organizational mind set will enable healthcare organizations to improve patient care at a reduced cost.  Healthcare organizations as well as medical device and pharmaceutical companies will be able to use data to evaluate the total cost of treating patients. 

With today’s technology, applications are coming to market that provide hospitals with a wide spectrum of capabilities, combined with amazing ease of use, and very affordable prices.

So what has changed recently that is making this a reality? The answer is technology and mind set. To start off, the delivery of on-demand software-as-a-service (SaaS) or cloud-based applications has become a de facto standard in many application types, and a competitive advantage to healthcare organizations. It’s fast, it’s cheap, and it’s secure. The most exciting part about on-demand applications is that they are becoming very specialized.

For instance, there are applications that empower healthcare providers to deliver the highest quality of care by helping them collect, analyze and act on their data.