The healthcare industry has evolved dramatically—from the increased awareness of virus prevention to the rise of telemedicine and even the unification of patient data. Healthcare professionals worldwide are prioritizing their investments in master data management solutions (MDM) to ensure their patient records are high-quality and actionable. As a result, big data in the healthcare market is projected to reach $105.73 billion by 2030.
Collaboration is required to ensure patients receive the appropriate care. Master data management eliminates the data silos that inhibit departments from gaining a complete understanding of their treatment plans and diagnoses, as well as optimizing current operations. They also boost productivity by allowing teams to communicate and make data-driven decisions at a rapid pace—and according to a PwC survey, “businesses that base their strategic decisions on data are 3 times more likely to achieve long-term success than those that don’t leverage the power of big data.”
Leaders can go a step further by integrating data-driven workflows into their MDM solutions. Advancing healthcare workers’ ability to collaborate, MDM solutions are key to enabling data-driven organizations. They create and deliver value by turning organizations’ raw data into high-quality golden records that are actionable and accessible to all. Workflows leverage metadata to dynamically route, assign, and automate tasks to increase organizational alignment and team efficiency. Prioritizing this kind of integration can positively impact healthcare spending, productivity, and patient care by improving visibility and opportunity identification.
Here are three ways data-driven workflows can enable data stewardship and streamline care delivery.
Collaboration is Key To Improve Health Outcomes
Sometimes, diagnosing a patient’s medical problems is not a linear process—and when doctors lack clean data or a solid data foundation, misdiagnoses can occur. For example, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality estimates that 7.4 million misdiagnoses occur in US emergency rooms alone.
Data-driven workflows can reduce these rates by creating a cross-functional process visible to each team member. Understanding how each department contributes to the objective and the data that helps them get there can eliminate errors and misunderstandings at any point in the diagnostic process.
Our partner, IMT Healthcare, saw the effects of this first-hand. Vice President of Offering Management at IMT Healthcare Deanna Note said the ability to enable both automated and manual interventions with full traceability and audit was critical for both clinical and business operations. Data-driven workflows result in higher quality and more complete patient and provider data, which helps enable meaningful analytics and streamlined care.
Data-Driven Workflows Streamline Care Delivery
Data-driven workflows streamline care delivery after the treatment plan has been analyzed and approved. This is due to data unification and the reduction of manual data processing. Automation is employed within data-driven workflows to simplify the management experience and complete the tedious collection tasks that can double a patient’s waiting time.
Additionally, data-driven workflows integrate communications between hospitals, physicians, and other providers. Most tasks in the healthcare sector involve a series of interconnected activities where each department solves a piece of the puzzle. Therefore, it is crucial to see the chain of events and how each component can contribute to the care being given.
Unified Data Creates a Holistic View of Patients
The human body is complex, as is the healthcare industry. To make the best patient decisions, professionals must look at them holistically. While there may be pushback to cutting the legacy technologies of the past, MDM solutions and data-driven workflows are offering IT and business units in healthcare precisely what they need: that is, the tools to reduce development costs, foster collaboration, and prioritize the patient experience. Unified data will allow the healthcare industry to continue elevating its agility in a time of rapid change.
Brett Hansen
Brett Hansen is responsible for global Marketing for Semarchy, a global leader in data management solutions. He has two decades of experience in general management, marketing, product, and strategy leadership positions.
