Analytics

The challenge for the Carolinas Healthcare System was to reduce the readmission rate for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The solution: predictive analytics.

A new survey from the American Health Information Management Association finds that 95 percent of the more than a thousand healthcare industry professionals queried believe that "high-value information" is essential for improving patient safety and care quality.

In this age of big data, analytics in healthcare has expanded from business intelligence and revenue-cycle management to clinical care.

The shift toward value-based care has sparked a demand for analytics like never before, according to a report from research firm KLAS. The report also points out that the demand has vendors rushing a wave of new products to market.

There are two types of analytics projects: those boundary-pushing advancements that, where they do exist, are mainly the product of big hospitals and academic medical centers, and the humbler, more doable -- but sometimes just as valuable -- insights that can be gleaned by smaller providers.