Computerworld Honors Mercy for Data Innovation
Computerworld Honors Mercy for Data Innovation
1888PressRelease - Data+ Editors' Choice Award recognizes tech-driven initiative to improve patient care.
St. Louis, MO-IL - A data-driven project that's saving more lives has earned Mercy the 2015 Computerworld Data+ Editors' Choice Award. Mercy is among only a few dozen recipients of the award - including Intel, Google and Cisco - based on smart business decisions using big data.
"Because there is so much variation in health care, we've turned to our physicians and clinicians to see what's working the best for our patients," said Vance Moore, senior vice president of operations at Mercy. Instead of relying solely on medical literature, Mercy is tapping into millions of pieces of data, submitted directly by an experienced medical team through electronic health records.
"We're looking at patient experiences across the four states we serve - whether they're getting a gall bladder removed or a hip replaced - and zeroing in on their treatment, from start to finish," Moore said. "From treatment protocol to the types of medications and how frequently they're administered, we're looking at a variety of patterns and best practices to fine-tune future visits."
The information is used to create "clinical pathways," as they are referred to at Mercy, are then available for physicians to implement or adjust based on a patient's needs. "If we're seeing patients recovering quicker with a less expensive alternative, we want to integrate that to not only lower costs, but raise the bar on quality," Moore added.
And it's already happening. Through data analysis, Mercy learned that a small group of doctors were administering a specific drug to knee replacement patients to help combat pain. It turns out, the drug reduced the patients' need for medication after surgery. Not only did they recover more quickly, they were walking sooner, too.
"It really does streamline the care," said Mercy cardiologist Dr. Seth Barbanell. "Our
1888PressRelease - Data+ Editors' Choice Award recognizes tech-driven initiative to improve patient care.
St. Louis, MO-IL - A data-driven project that's saving more lives has earned Mercy the 2015 Computerworld Data+ Editors' Choice Award. Mercy is among only a few dozen recipients of the award - including Intel, Google and Cisco - based on smart business decisions using big data.
"Because there is so much variation in health care, we've turned to our physicians and clinicians to see what's working the best for our patients," said Vance Moore, senior vice president of operations at Mercy. Instead of relying solely on medical literature, Mercy is tapping into millions of pieces of data, submitted directly by an experienced medical team through electronic health records.
"We're looking at patient experiences across the four states we serve - whether they're getting a gall bladder removed or a hip replaced - and zeroing in on their treatment, from start to finish," Moore said. "From treatment protocol to the types of medications and how frequently they're administered, we're looking at a variety of patterns and best practices to fine-tune future visits."
The information is used to create "clinical pathways," as they are referred to at Mercy, are then available for physicians to implement or adjust based on a patient's needs. "If we're seeing patients recovering quicker with a less expensive alternative, we want to integrate that to not only lower costs, but raise the bar on quality," Moore added.
And it's already happening. Through data analysis, Mercy learned that a small group of doctors were administering a specific drug to knee replacement patients to help combat pain. It turns out, the drug reduced the patients' need for medication after surgery. Not only did they recover more quickly, they were walking sooner, too.
"It really does streamline the care," said Mercy cardiologist Dr. Seth Barbanell. "Our