“Aetna shares database of payor data with providers”

“The smart watch is the way health data will be collected in the very near future“

“Johnson and Johnson sponsors free health screenings for volunteers at world cup”

“There are 14,000 mobile apps that are healthcare related…..90% are fitness oriented”

“An aging society that requires more care; hospitals’ increasing acquisitions of in-house physicians who can charge higher hospital rates; and expensive new technologies are other factors that continue to drive health care costs into the future”

These are recent headlines that feature the connection between data, dollars and healthcare. The emphasis is on data collection and analysis, gadgets (lots of gadgets), and who is investing in data collection and management. It should surprise no one that payors are investing in data collection and data sharing. Payors giving providers access to their data base of clinical and non-clinical information could become a real trend. Indeed, it should become. Who better to analyze clinical data of their own patients than the providers delivering care? But you don’t have time for that? Most providers read about data analysis in their specialty journals or hear about it from pharmacy repos or other vendors. Evidence based medicine is about the evidence of efficacy and wellness in their own patient population. The basis of the data is in your EHR. You probably already have someone over-seeing the “care and feeding” of that. Use them to collect data and start asking relevant questions of it, like the real demographics of your patient base not just your gut feeling. The most prevalent diagnosis and treatment and outcome, what could you learn from looking at your own patients?

Data collection is mobile apps is the next big wave of invention with IT. Now the big question is what can you do with the data that’s collected? How can you use the data to bring value to those patients taking the time and effort to use the apps? They are probably a younger crowd with very different views about healthcare than the over 65 crowd. How to reach them and keep chronic illness from becoming a national problem is the challenge with this group.

The MCR aged patients will soon make-up over 50% of your patients if not already. They come from a variety of perspectives; but in general are the wealthiest, most educated and engaged population your practice has……what do you do with them? About 50% of them take vitamin supplements of some kind, 65% of them have either high blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol, heart disease or all the above. How can the analysis of data from this patient population help your overall practice goal? How can sharing experiences within this group on your practice website bring better compliance and outcomes?

Data, dollars, and your healthcare practice are all woven together in an intricate pattern. The message is pretty clear; he who best uses the data, best benefits the patients and collects the most dollars.