Healthcare records are a valuable resource for the healthcare industry because of the information they contain. The ones predominantly in use today are the electronic health records or EHRs. They are stored with, at the very least, lab results, diagnostic imaging results, and hospital visits. If a care provider’s office is hooked into the regional EHR, then care provider visits will come up as well. If a hospital uses electronic charting, all of the records from a hospital visit (vital signs, blood sugar levels, assessments, etc.) will also be on it.

Imagine a patient walks into her physician’s office, swiping off the notification on her smart-watch or phone reminding her of her appointment. The physician too, glances at her computer and with just one click, pulls up the patient’s records. The records have every information, right from her past immunizations to her family’s medical history and the physician bases her questions on the obtained patient history.

The Becker’s Hospital Review 3rd Annual Health IT + Revenue Cycle Conference recently concluded after hosting a range of discussions on modern healthcare. The conference started with a keynote address by the ex-president of the US, George W. Bush. From all over the US, healthcare experts and distinguished thought leaders in the field of health IT gathered here to share useful knowledge to discuss the role of informatics, data analytics, mobile health, EMR issues, trends, and revenue cycle challenges like denials. As many as 150 speakers and 7 keynote speakers from various care organizations around the US attended the event to offer their personal insights and actionable takeaways.

Most of us have a very linear approach when it comes to dealing with data. If A and B are above a definite number, C has to be a certain value. Not just sometimes, but all the time. And I think it’s safe to say that healthcare data isn’t that way. It’s complex and at times inconsistent, making it difficult to perform a linear analysis.

The number of Accountable Care Organizations in the US has grown exponentially. Currently, there are more than 900 public and private ACOs spread out in the U.S. According to a breakthrough report by CMS highlighting the performance of ACOs, a total of $466 million were saved for Medicare in 2015. The key point to notice- only one-third, 31% of the ACOs managed to generate enough savings to qualify for bonuses.

Data integration is a daunting task for organizations in every sector. We are generating and collecting more data than ever before. However, due to system and integration challenges, we are only halfway through understanding that data and transforming it into knowledge.

We are living in an era of information technology that has been radically transformed by the advent of digital technology as it has shaped the way we communicate. Digital communication, wherein any information transmission largely takes place in the form of data, has deeply entrenched the realm of healthcare. Electronic health records (EHRs) that electronically store all medical data have revolutionized the way care is delivered by making information more accessible and easily transferable.

The healthcare industry, needless to say, has become very efficient at collecting data- be it electronic health records, lab information systems, claims and more. All the incoming data has created a massive reservoir of clinical and financial information- enough to drive considerable healthcare improvement.

The amount of data is just increasing. In fact, the amount of electronic data that exists today is massive and is growing at a rapid rate – more than 2.7 zettabytes (that’s a 1 with 21 zeroes after it) of data exist today. This is projected to grow to 67 times that number in less than two decades. The way to manage this volume of data? – big data technology. With data is the ‘new oil’ being the mantra of leaders today, big data and analytics are all set to drive the next evolutionary jump of healthcare and business as we know it.

Numbers. It’s all in the numbers. As of 2017, the amount of information is growing much more rapidly than our understanding of what to do with it, or our ability to differentiate the useful information from the rest. On the other hand, the inflated health care costs in the U.S. are showing no clear signs of decline. So, we should be directing our focus towards smarter, data-driven solutions or more simply analytics, which will make the job of doctors a lot easier and manage the skyrocketing costs that come in the way of providing quality care to the population they serve. Digitized health information holds the potential to reduce treatment costs, avoid preventable diseases, and improve the quality of life in general. The sooner we optimize its utility, the better will be the care of the patients.