A main concern for hospital CEOs continues to revolve around the financial position of their organizations. Other concerns include new CMS mandates and rulings, patient satisfaction and quality scores, population health management, and personnel shortages—all of which end up impacting the bottom line if health systems can’t overcome the related challenges.

Because of the significant trials the industry as a whole is facing, three major credit rating agencies (Standard & Poor’s Financial Services, Fitch Ratings, and Moody’s Investors Service) have all given the healthcare and hospital sectors negative outlooks for the 2015 calendar year.

But that can change for the better. It’s a process. And it’s vital to delivering improved care systematically at lower costs.

Performance improvement requires an analytics system that integrates the organization’s data sources (clinical, claims, financial, operational, etc.), and that facilitates quick and easy data sharing. Only with appropriate analytics can an organization identify specific areas of opportunity among strategic areas of focus.

Healthcare data analytics is required for any sustainable performance improvement initiative. It forms the foundation of discussion and informs decisions. Yet while healthcare organizations have mountains of clinical, claims, financial, operational, patient experience and other data, most of it is locked away in point solutions built for a specific purpose.

Performance improvement requires an analytic system that integrates the organization’s data sources, and quickly and easily unlocks data, and enables effective sharing of data and the addition of new data sources. Doing so allows interdisciplinary teams to analyze the data and discover patterns that lead to insights

Take a look at our hospital success story. This case study might qualify for Super Hero status. The client brought us multiple systems with 17 different lists of physicians, including different identifiers, specialties, type of practice, status, and clinic locations. Many of the lists did not agree. Our website tells you the key things we did to make a disconnected process both connected and valuable.

Organizations that effectively use data as part of their decision making process gain a competitive edge in their respective markets. At Management Information Analysis, we provide solutions that allow organizations in various industries make better use of existing data sets and incorporate all relevant information into their strategic planning.

Most quantitative forms of healthcare strategic planning are population-based, where the demand for services is driven by population growth and changing demographics. Additionally, it is important to understand historical and current trends and to be able to anticipate future changes.

Healthcare organizations routinely pursue performance improvement initiatives to improve clinical outcomes and patient experiences and reduce organizational costs. If these efforts are not well executed, however, they can become black holes that suck up time, money, and resources while yielding little in the way of real, sustainable improvements.

You can get your organization healthier with a process for improvements based upon a lean delivery system and the data analytics that support savvy, cost-effective decisions.