Mercy Harnesses Data in New Ways to Provide Lifesaving Care

ST. LOUIS, July 10, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- On its own, big data is just big data. But when it can be crunched, digested and harnessed, it can be used to improve patient care and decrease health care costs. The use of sophisticated machine learning, or artificial intelligence, is one of the reasons Mercy has been named "Most Wired Advanced" once again.

It's the third time in four years that the American Hospital Association (AHA) has recognized Mercy in the "Advanced" category for exceeding core criteria – a distinction given to only 27 of the nearly 700 organizations surveyed. In addition, it's the 14^th time Mercy has made the Most Wired list.

"Health care has been sitting on a mountain of data that really hasn't been used to its fullest - until recently," said Gil Hoffman, Mercy's chief information officer. "Combining the speed and accuracy of computing hardware, powerful data science and clinical best practices, Mercy is pioneering breakthroughs not seen before."

With machine learning, Mercy combs through millions of data points to determine methods of care that produce the best results for patients. Pairing this intelligence with the best medical literature, Mercy then configures the surest medical paths to get there. Together, doctors, nurses and clinical teams can use this data to map out the best care options and the quickest route to good health.

"The same way Google maps tell you when traffic has slowed down just ahead and spits out alternative routes, we can predict surges and bottlenecks in our hospitals before they happen," said Aaron Steffens, Mercy's vice president of operational improvement. "Mercy can make informed decisions in real time to care for patients more quickly and get them home sooner."

Click here to learn more about how Mercy is improving care for patients.

Mercy's leadership in optimizing technology has earned it some of health care's highest honors. The Most Wired Advanced designation comes on the heels of the Davies Award of Excellence, which recognized Mercy and its IT division, Mercy Technology Services, for innovations that are improving patient care and costs.

AHA's annual survey, representing almost 40 percent of U.S. hospitals, has become a leading benchmark for health systems to measure their level of IT adoption. For a full list of Most Wired winners, visit Health & Hospital Networks magazine at www.hhnmag.com.

SOURCE Mercy