“In disciplines as disparate as baseball, financial services, trucking and retail, people are realizing the power of data to help make better decisions. Medicine is just beginning to explore this opportunity, but it faces many of the same barriers that existed in those other sectors – deeply held traditions, monolithic organizational and operational structures, and a psychological resistance to change.“
— MLB Data Analyst Paul DePodesta on applying his skills to digital medicine
For those of you who don’t know, Paul DePodesta is a data analytics authority who worked with Bill Beane to transform the Oakland A’s baseball team in 2002 using data science. Their success story was retold in a book (later made into a movie), Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game. In 2015, DePodesta joined the faculty of the Scripps Translational Science Institute (STSI) where he is applying his analytics skills to the field of digital medicine.
The appointment of DePodesta reinforces what a brief Google search tells us – predictive analytics in the era of digital health is paramount to improving patient care and transforming healthcare as we know it.
Numerous articles can be found in publications from “Health Catalyst” to “Harvard Business Review” that look at how to make predictive analytics a routine part of patient care.
So we weren’t surprised when we asked our Healthcare Advisory Committee members what they were most concerned about and we found that the majority of responses were around analytics and data. The challenge of analyzing patient data to make better-informed decisions is something GTRI hears from its healthcare clients on a regular basis.
That is why we are dedicating our upcoming Healthcare Advisory Committee meeting to the topic of predictive analytics and business intelligence. On Friday, August 19, Julie Reisetter, Chief Nursing Officer (CNO) at Banner Health, will be joining us to talk about “Targeting the ‘Super Users’ of Healthcare: Integrating an Intensive Ambulatory Telemedicine Service into the Home.”
Ms. Reisetter has over 30 years of healthcare experience in a variety of roles throughout the U.S. In 2011, she was selected as Banner Health’s first Chief Nursing Officer for Telehealth Services where she is responsible for the development and implementation of innovative technology solutions across the care continuum.
In addition, Dr. John Frownfelter, former Chief Medical Information Officer at Henry Ford Health System, will be talking about “Using Predictive Analytics to Improve Patient Outcomes.” Dr. Frownfelter is an internist and physician executive in Health Information Technology with over 15 years of expertise in systems management, care transformation and health information systems. Dr. Frownfelter has also held professorships at St. George’s University and Wayne State schools of medicine, and the University of Detroit Mercy Physician Assistant School.
I am looking forward to the presentations from our guest speakers and also the interactive discussion that will, undoubtedly, lead to additional insights we can use to make our services more meaningful to our clients.
In the coming months we will share updates based on the Healthcare Advisory Committee’s inaugural meeting that looked at alarm fatigue, and from our upcoming meeting on predictive analytics. Stay tuned!
Alex Brickner is Managing Director of GTRI’s Healthcare Division.
