“We know what to do, so why aren’t we doing it?” is the question many health executives face when attempting process improvements. The answer is data- clear, actionable data that speaks to stakeholders and can bring together impetus and action.
In any given hospital system, one or more clinical leads have likely researched best practices and have a pretty good idea where care pathway deficiencies lie. The service line leaders also have hunches on who the best and worst performing care-teams are and where the process variation lies. However, insights and hunches do not necessarily translate to performance improvement. Why not? The clinical leads are not armed with the information needed to convince all key stake holders. Furthermore, they lack data on the effects any requested changes might have.
Our mission at Ark.one Health is to provide the data and insights needed to drive organizational change by applying machine learning to a health system’s claims, clinical and financial data. AI can be used to identify pockets of a health system that contain processes innovation or wasteful processes. It can project the effects of changing wasteful processes, reducing variation or spreading beneficial processes across the organization. Finally, it can project the financial impact of these actions and measure progress towards goals. Actionable internal data and both predictive and proscriptive recommendations synchronize the efforts of operational and clinical staff with the system leadership, thereby accelerating progress toward improved financial returns and clinical excellence. The potential benefit of AI-powered insights is amplified when it is applied across a multi-hospital healthcare system, as more greater variation can be observed.
As AI continues to evolve, it’s easy to imagine more organizations adopting a learning healthcare system model and leveraging the information hidden in plain sight within their institutions. Who knows, one day, it’s financial and operational value may earn AI a seat on health system board of directors!
