Healthcare

Comments on WSJ Post- “EMRs: A Huge, Expensive Burden”

Electronic Medical Records (EMRs) provide the foundation to improve healthcare quality and improve cost performance. And standardized EMRs open the door to telehealth and new analytics to improve clinical decision support systems and save lives. But the transition from paper records, as we learned in the e-commerce revolution, will take time and create disruption. I posted comments on a WSJ post to share my view on the benefits we can expect to see. WSJ post and my edited comments at http://tinyurl.com/ksnav8e

Copy of my complete comments as follows:

We need a standardized, full- featured EMR system- this is powerful building block to improve today’s healthcare system. The U.S. lags Australia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway and the U.K., all of which have EMR adoption rates above 90 percent. No surprise these countries have healthcare systems that lead the U.S. based on all patient outcomes/cost performance metrics. Coupled with the ACA’s new core quality measure reporting (‘eCQM’s), we are taking the right steps. But EMR also enables predictive analytics which I see as the Holy Grail here. What lies ahead- new clinical decision support systems improving outcomes; new tools to minimize adverse drug events; improving patient selection for new drug trials; improving surgical outcomes examining chronic issues; and many more. The Social Progress Index report, created by Harvard Business School’s Professor Michael E. Porter’s team, ranked 132 countries using 50 indicators. In the Health and Wellness category the United States ranks poorly at 70th, behind Mali (69th), and Nepal (68th), but, small consolation, ahead of Kuwait (71st). Keep that in mind the next time you hear a pundit say “…our healthcare system works just fine and we don’t need to change it.” These studies are based on metrics/data analysis, not hype or talking points. There will be some disruption, but a standardized EMR system will benefit both the entire healthcare community and the public.

Paul B. Silverman

 

Paul B. Silverman writes about entrepreneurship, healthcare, analytics, and strategy management and serves as Advisor, Speaker, Educator, and Managing Partner of the Gemini Business Group, LLC, a new venture development firm, and author of “8 Building Blocks To Launch, Manage, And Grow A Successful Business.” He also serves as Adjunct Professor in the School of Business at George Mason University. See more at Paul B. Silverman Blog and sign up for Entrepreneurship Today! email updates to track latest new venture developments.

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Posted “Emerging Business Models Driven By Predictive Analytics” in Business Model Innovation Forum

Agreed to serve as a member of the Business Model Innovation Forum. Good discussion here on all aspects of business models and where we are heading. I posted following comments today as an initial contribution – more information in the Forum at www.businessmodelhub.com. I am pleased to share a copy of my posted comments:

Emerging Business Models Driven By Predictive Analytics

I am pleased to contribute to the Forum and look forward to discussions with other members.

Two areas related to business models in my view should be discussed. First, predictive analytics which is reshaping traditional business models and changing the competitive landscape. These new tools analyze millions of “information records”, develop “rules” to explain the outcomes with major improvement in speed and accuracy. Note information records may include traditional databases, as well as unstructured “text analytics” from news feeds, messaging, maybe doctors notes related to an electronic health record (EHR). Seamless analysis of both traditional structured and unstructured data is a powerful new direction and where we are heading.What we are seeing are new services emerging, creating new markets, many driven by entrepreneurial firms. New clinical diagnostic services to improve healthcare outcomes and reduce costs- results show dramatic improvement. Technology Assisted Review or TAR, using advanced analytics in the legal arena to assist in identifying relevant and priviliged documents reviewing millions of documents for class action and other major legal cases. Continuous Audit, Continuous Monitoring or “CA/CM” using real time analytics in Fortune 1000 companies to identify problem, possibly fraudulent transactions pre-audit saving time and money and reducing exposure.

I have been involved in these and can cite many others. Key point- we are creating new business models here- some based on outcomes, others based on client savings maybe linked to longitudinal or total costs. So today what looks like a traditional software product, services, or solutions business may be competing with “transaction based” players, oftentimes entrepreneurial firms using creative business models and pricing structures.

Secondly, while we often focus on the internal, company- centric elements of the business model which are essential, lets keep in mind that external factors play a major role in shaping a firm’s business model and strategy. In 2013, I made this point in comments on an excellent business planning post by Accenture. You can see my comments and the Accenture link at http://tinyurl.com/ozugkl9

Bottom line here- we can expect to see many new, creative business models emerging which “push the envelope” demanding that management acquire new business planning and analysis skills. “Business as usual” will not be a successful strategy. Many of these new emerging business models in my view will be driven by agile entrepreneurial firms creating both new investment and value creation opportunities as well as challenges for traditional players,

Paul B. Silverman writes about entrepreneurship, healthcare, analytics, and strategy management and serves as Advisor, Speaker, Educator, and Managing Partner of the Gemini Business Group, LLC, a new venture development firm, and author of “8 Building Blocks To Launch, Manage, And Grow A Successful Business.” He also serves as Adjunct Professor in the School of Business at George Mason University. See more at Paul B. Silverman Blog and sign up for Entrepreneurship Today! email updates to track latest new venture developments.

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Comments on Article- “Predictive Analytics Showing the Shape of Things to Come”- The Australian June 25, 2013

The Australian newspaper had an interesting article on June 25, 2013 (http://tinyurl.com/mtah9ju) describing a number of successful predictive analytics applications, but also making the point that market penetration has been slow noting “… despite the numerous uses of predictive analytics, uptake is limited. According to Gartner, only 13 per cent of organisations report extensive use, while fewer than 3 per cent use prescriptive capabilities such as decision/mathematical modelling, simulation and optimisation market”. I posted brief summary comments today in response to the article and am pleased to share a complete copy of my comments:

Excellent article and clearly summarizes the challenges we face in educating management on how PA solutions can help companies improve performance and mitigate risk. I am pleased to share the following 3 observations. My comments are based on my position as former CEO of InferX Corporation, a publicly traded predictive analytics company, and serving as adjunct professor teaching MBA strategy courses in the RH Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland.

No. 1   Analytics complements ‘traditional management’

Define your mission; assess external environment and competition using PEST, Porter’s 5 Forces model, other tools; assess internal resources and capabilities; develop detailed value chain analysis; analyze product life cycles; develop cost leader/differentiation global strategies based on product, market, competition and other factors. Analytics can make a major contribution throughout the ‘traditional’ management process. Yet market analysis shows about 85% of the total PA market today addresses the CRM sector. We need to view PA within the context of traditional management rather than a separate ‘big data/analytics’ sector. Integrating PA into traditional management processes is a challenge and the real opportunity with high upside

No. 2   Analytics costs more

True. When the e-commerce revolution emerged years ago, we had major push back from companies who preferred to continue to process orders manually, work with suppliers using ad hoc systems, and avoid ‘costly’ new systems implementation and industry standards. Systems costs did increase, but we created process and performance efficiencies that improved profitability and reduced risk. Today’s analytics solutions demand understanding ROI (and how to measure) and clearly communicating this message.

No. 3    “Analytics Drives Strategy and Strategy Drives Analytics”

Properly executed and integrated into a company’s management processes, I see great opportunity to use analytics to drive strategy, particularly in shaping new product and market innovations to increase ROI. Look at Capital One, an analytics driven competitor reportedly doing 300+ analytic scenarios daily to optimize financial offerings. Or Progressive, capturing motorcycle rider clients using analytics to define a segment with both claims and expense ratios providing strong returns. Amazon, Netflix and many others are using analytics to drive ‘micro-marketing segmentation’ which is where we are heading. And these new strategies create new analytics, enabling analytics- savvy companies such as Amazon to continue to excel.

Clearly all ‘analytics solutions’ providers, a term I prefer to emphasize PA’s broader role, have a challenge ahead- to educate clients, particularly at the ‘C’ level, on the opportunities embracing these solutions and the challenges they will face if they do not. Exciting times lie ahead in the global analytics solutions business for both solutions providers and all companies in all sectors.

Paul B. Silverman

 

Paul B. Silverman writes about entrepreneurship, healthcare, analytics, and strategy management and serves as Advisor, Speaker, Educator, and Managing Partner of the Gemini Business Group, LLC, a new venture development firm, and author of “8 Building Blocks To Launch, Manage, And Grow A Successful Business.” He also serves as Adjunct Professor in the School of Business at George Mason University. See more at Paul B. Silverman Blog and sign up for Entrepreneurship Today! email updates to track latest new venture developments.

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Posted Comments on WSJ Article-“Can Data From Your Fitbit Transform Medicine?”

Posted comments on June 23rd WSJ Technology article addressing telemedicine – I follow this area and emphasized need to do more to develop telemedicine in the United States

We lag most developed countries in the telemedicine arena which reduces the quality of our healthcare system and increases costs

You can see the WSJ article and my comments at

http://online.wsj.com/articles/health-data-at-hand-with-trackers-1403561237?mod=djem10point

Here is a copy of comments I posted:

A winning formula- integrate telemedicine into patient’s EHRs. Mayo Clinic problems shows challenges. We are going in the wrong direction here. Three strategies to fully leverage telemedicine:1.Establish standards integrating remote monitoring devices with EHRs. The ACA ensures ‘meaningful use’ of EHRs. Well defined standards jumpstarts the remote health monitoring market moving from niche focus  2. Use analytics to emphasize benefits. Powerful analytics assess health issues and develop optimized treatment plans. For what is emerging, check out comments I posted on a healthsystemCIO.com site Posting HealthSystemsCIO.com. 3. Pro-actively address security concerns. “Tops down” national initiative emphasizing benefits- prenatal care, chronic conditions, improved outcomes particularly in rural areas with 25% of population but only 10% of physicians. Need to counter serious security concerns. e.g., April 26th guidelines from the Federation of State Medical Boards which can hamper growth.

Paul B. Silverman

 

Paul B. Silverman writes about entrepreneurship, healthcare, analytics, and strategy management and serves as Advisor, Speaker, Educator, and Managing Partner of the Gemini Business Group, LLC, a new venture development firm, and author of “8 Building Blocks To Launch, Manage, And Grow A Successful Business.” He also serves as Adjunct Professor in the School of Business at George Mason University. See more at Paul B. Silverman Blog and sign up for Entrepreneurship Today! email updates to track latest new venture developments.

 

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