HealthLeader’s Media Intelligence last month released its annual hospital survey, Forging Healthcare’s New Financial Foundation. (www.healthleadersmedia.com/intellligence). Overwhelmingly, improving patient experience topped the list where hospitals expect to be increasing their investments within the next three years.
Before I get back on my health IT horse, I’ll list the hospitals’ top three:
1. Patient experience improvements – 62%
2. Data analytics – 54%
3. Electronic health records – 52%
It is noteworthy that health information technology initiatives take the #2 and #3 slots. Makes sense to me. Electronic patient record systems collect and store patient data that provide the stuff of which data analytics is made. What happens to all that analyzed data? When we have good information about the patient in front of us, we can better identify best practices and clinical protocols that deliver the best patient outcomes.
Patients come to the hospital to get better. When the data we collect about the patient in front of us leads us to treatments proven over time that support that end, patients will have a better experience. Guaranteed.
Next up: We’ll look more closely at the 4th item on the hospitals’ wish list: continuous improvement programs like Lean.
