Analytics as a Service
The majority of healthcare leaders are behind the curve when it comes to sophisticated data analytics capabilities.
If you’re one of them, there may be a better way than making a large investment in building a team and technical infrastructure which may or may not meet next year’s needs. Creating a nimble internal team and leveraging an outside firm with health data analytics expertise may provide the best option for speed, flexibility and cost.
Payors and providers will need to apply data analytics and AI to be successful in the new healthcare ecosystem. For organizations just starting this journey in earnest or with weak spots in their capabilities, near-term or even longer-term outsourcing may be a great option. From our point of view, there are a few key elements that are critical to the success of a Healthcare Analytics as a Service (HAaaS) arrangement:
- Organizations need at least a kernel of internal data analytics strategic leadership and understanding
- HAaaS should serve as an accelerant for organizations building analytics/AI capabilities
- Flexibility to accommodate short or long-term solutions
- Internal emphasis on change management
A Little Understanding Goes a Long Way
Even when an organization has outsourced much of its data analytics/AI capabilities, it is important for leadership and perhaps a small, internal team to have a good grasp on capabilities, tools and competitor activity in the space. The application of data in healthcare across a number of dimensions will be so critical that the organization’s leaders must drive the strategy for data analytics/AI based on the payor/provider specific competitive positioning.
The space is evolving so quickly that the strategy should be revisited at least annually, if not quarterly. The chief strategy officer, chief information officer or chief data officer should lead in this area and have a small team in place to support the strategy, change management initiatives and the relationship with the HAaaS provider.
Stepping on the Gas
The amount and speed of change in healthcare is unprecedented and new entrants from more nimble industries are circling the multi-trillion dollar opportunity. Payors and providers are adjusting organizational models rapidly, but in most cases their operations and support groups can’t keep up. In the data analytics/AI space this is only exacerbated by leaps in technological capability and the hype captivating consumers with the potential for impacts in healthcare quality, cost and experience.
Payors and providers, especially those that are late to the game, should consider leveraging vendors with the skills, tools and infrastructure in place to dramatically accelerate key strategies and allow the organization to focus on change management tactics needed to integrate into the organization for maximum impact.
One Size Does Not Fit All
With data analytics/AI moving at the speed of light, strategies have to be able to adapt at a similar pace. For payors/providers trying to establish analytics, leveraging an external HAaaS provider may be a great strategy to get key capabilities in place in the near term. This approach allows you to minimize outlays on infrastructure and building a team until the reality vs. hype of analytics/AI is clearer and your strategic positioning can be set. Once a clear direction is set, an informed decision can be made on retaining the HAaaS relationship or insourcing to better differentiate the organization.
Focus on Change
All that said, the real value of HAaaS comes from operationalizing data analytics and AI. To do this, payor/provider leadership MUST focus on managing the change into the organization. Educating stakeholders on the importance of the capabilities, diligent focus on the workflow changes, galvanizing leadership support for the tools and lastly, defining metrics and measuring progress closely will make or break the effectiveness of any HAaaS arrangement, regardless of the quality of the analytics provider.
As a well-established HAaaS provider with the experience, expertise and infrastructure necessary to provide analytics support at every level, Amitech is an ideal partner to help meet your needs. Please contact us to discuss options for short or long-term strategic solutions.
