Healthcare Providers' Analytics Needs Remain Ahead of Vendor Capabilities

BOSTON, Feb. 3, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Chilmark Research's latest report, 2016 Analytics for Population Health Management Market Trends Report, reveals that vendor solutions are not keeping pace with the accelerating demands of a rapidly transforming industry. While vendors continue to make progress in the functional evolution of their analytics solutions, healthcare organizations (HCOs) struggle with the complexity of their data management requirements and embedding analytical insights into clinical workflows in support of strategic initiatives. This extensive update to the 2014 edition builds on Chilmark's comprehensive review of available solutions to serve the analytics needs of HCOs to enable their Population Health Management (PHM) strategies. The report also presents a new model for understanding the value chain for clinical analytics across the enterprise.

The most important driver underlying strong growth in data analytics is the move to alternative payment models, often referred to as value-based reimbursement (VBR). Future financial success in the VBR realm requires HCOs to effectively manage risks, utilization and costs while concurrently improving quality and optimizing outcomes. Today, however, HCOs must straddle the two different payment regimes of fee-for-service (FFS) and VBR. Analytics solutions are currently focusing on helping HCOs maximize revenue (hitting quality targets) and leverage traditional FFS reimbursements (closing care gaps). A secondary objective is to help HCOs reduce medical costs (variability) and unnecessary utilization (readmissions reduction and low-acuity, non-emergent utilization).

The report points to an important, ongoing challenge — incorporating analytics into existing workflows. While vendors have made progress with analytics functionality, workflow integration ultimately keeps analytics out of the hands of clinicians who could benefit most from insights at the point of care. Today, clinicians typically exit their EHR, toggling to a clinical portal for analytically-derived insights.

Another notable finding is the relatively rapid progress made by EHR vendors in the last year. Vendors such as Cerner, Epic, and eClinicalWorks have added functionality and seen strong adoption by their customers. Independent vendors are not standing still. They continue to enhance their solutions and acquire new customers, staying one step ahead of the EHR vendors on functionality. EHR vendors, however, hold the advantage of existing customer relationships and often better ability to embed insights into clinician workflow.  

According to Jody Ranck, Chilmark analyst and co-author of the report, "We still see much of the analytics market in an immature stage of development. A major obstacle is a lack of sound governance and data curation strategies that enable health care organizations to leverage their data and analytics capabilities across the entire data analytics value chain. The market is at a pivot point where we will need to see more Chief Analytics Officers and the rhetoric of 'data-driven organizations' manifested in reality."

The report is available to subscribers of the Chilmark Advisory Service or may be purchased separately. For more information, visit www.chilmarkresearch.com/reports. Direct inquiries for purchase should be addressed to Sean Campbell at [email protected].

About Chilmark Research
Chilmark Research is the only industry analyst firm focusing solely on the most transformational trends in healthcare IT. We combine proven research methodologies with intelligence and insight to provide cogent analyses of the emerging technologies that have the greatest potential to improve healthcare. We do not shy away from making tough calls, and are respected in the industry for our direct and thoughtful commentary. For more information visit: www.chilmarkresearch.com

Vendors Profiled: The Advisory Board Company, Aetna ActiveHealth, Aetna HDMS, Arcadia Healthcare Solutions, Caradigm, CareEvolution, Cerner Corporation, Conifer Health Solutions, eClinicalWorks, Epic Systems Corporation, Geneia LLC, Health Catalyst, HealthEC, IBM Watson Health, McKesson, Optum, Oracle, Orion Health, Premier, Inc., SAP, Tableau, Transcend Insights, Truven Health Analytics, Verisk Health, Wellcentive, Inc.

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