Making Data Smart

Journal of AHIMA takes a look at applied healthcare analytics

With the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, and the ongoing shift away from fee-for-service payment systems and toward value-based care, healthcare organizations are becoming much more data-driven.

Applied informatics aims to take Big Data and transform it into meaningful healthcare intelligence that can be used to analyze the healthcare landscape at any scale. This can be done at a “30,000-foot level” for national healthcare policy, at local and institutional levels for identifying areas of improvement for care delivery or regulatory compliance, or even the individual patient level.

When done correctly, Big-Data-driven analytics can streamline administrative processes, boost quality of care, and save a lot of time and money.

In the February 2014 Journal of AHIMA, the article "Making Data Smart" reviews the way data is being used to address and solve healthcare problems, including:

• Identifying patients in a health information exchange environment to track which patients have had their identities matched with other organizations, how many records have been exchanged, and who has accessed the information
• Improving quality metrics in critical regulatory focus areas via computerized clinical decision support in physician workflows
• Tracking patients in a geographic area as they move from hospital to hospital and track various readmissions data to improve understanding of patients who readmit, when, and why

“Healthcare delivery will benefit from our expanded understanding of health intelligence and our putting this understanding to good use," said Lynne Thomas Gordon, MBA, RHIA, FACHE, CAE, FAHIMA. "AHIMA's aim is to support HIM professionals and the industry as it appropriately aggregates, analyzes, and leverages the vast array of healthcare data at its disposal.”

Also in this issue

The February issue of the Journal of AHIMA also includes:

• Terminology asset management is essential for the implementation and maintenance of electronic health information systems. It refers to the business processes and terminology management activities that support the introduction of terminologies into clinical applications. "New Name of the HIM Game" describes how HIM professionals are uniquely qualified for these emerging roles given their background, education, and knowledge base.
• The practice brief "Enabling Consumer and Patient Engagement with Health Information" explores the relationship between health information management and consumer/patient engagement and policies and practices that enable the individual’s access to and use of health information.

About AHIMA
The American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) represents more than 71,000 educated health information management professionals in the United States and around the world. AHIMA is committed to promoting and advocating for high quality research, best practices and effective standards in health information and to actively contributing to the development and advancement of health information professionals worldwide. AHIMA’s enduring goal is quality healthcare through quality information. For more information, visit www.ahima.org.