clinical business intelligence

Clinical business intelligence is the process of applying data analytics to patient medical records through various systems with the goal of improving medical care. A clinical data analyst generally oversees clinical business intelligence systems.

Clinical business intelligence, like standard business intelligence, consolidates data from various sources, organizes it and makes use of the data for the betterment of business decisions. Data analysis is applied to the records created when care is provided to enable a complete picture of healthcare and its results. The analysis helps care providers and managers make better decisions about current and future patient treatment.

Systems for clinical business intelligence track performance, measure progress towards goals and, through measurement, help to provide accountability for results. This measurement and accountability provide strong foundations for evidence-based medicine, which is the ongoing examination and modification of care approaches based on careful analysis of data. While software makes gathering and analyzing data easier, humans are still required to verify the validity of experiments and gathered data and provide verification of results. The clinical data analyst provides this human element.  

Types of clinical business intelligence systems include:

• Patient registry analysis used to understand patient experience and results of care better.
• Priority conditions dashboards to keep staff aware of important alerts.
• Recognition/ pay-for-performance reporting to verify the quality of care provided by staff and ensure fair compensation.
• Care team data support to optimize the use of individual skills.
• Access and outreach programs to improve the accessibility of care.
• Waste reduction and cost analysis to improve the efficiency of care.
• Staffing and scheduling analysis to ensure that staff with the required skills is available when needed.
• Patient education statistics to verify the efforts to improve patients’ self-care.

As with many medical systems, clinical business intelligence attempts to meet the triple-aim goal as set out by the Institute for the Improvement of Healthcare: Improving the patient experience and the health of populations while reducing the per-capita cost of health care.