Today’s healthcare system operates predominantly on data and will continue to shape medical service delivery, decision making, and streamlined management. When healthcare professionals leverage information such as electronic health record, diagnostic image, or recording health metrics from a wearable device while also considering the genetic records, this information can accurately dictate patient health outcomes. Health data management ensures the data is accurate, secure, and accessible within the healthcare organization to help transform raw data into insights to improve: patient care and the institution’s operational performance.
What is Health Data Management?
Health data management or HDM is the process of collecting, securing, and leveraging patient health information to improve regulatory compliance, operational efficiency and healthcare delivery. It includes electronic health records, cloud data bases, analytics platforms etc.
Types of health data
- Clinical data – Information recorded during patient interventions including the past medical history, lab data, imaging (X-rays or MRI), surgical notes and critical signs.
- Administrative and Financial data – Data collected from billing, operations, insurance such hospital administrations or finance related records. Generally involves, collecting patient demographics, insurance claims, resource utilization, treatment expenses etc.
- Patient Generated Data – Information collected directly from patients, but beyond the institutional care setting. Through mobile health apps, wearable etc. are used to monitor heart rate, sleep patterns or even the lifestyle details of a patient.
- Genomic & Biological data – These are molecular data or data related to genetics that facilitate precision medicine. It includes vaccination dates, epidemiological data, health related surveys.
- Research and Clinical trial data – The data acquired during clinical trials, research studies etc. to treatments and medical action.
Key Benefits of Effective Health Data Management
- Operational Efficiency
Effective management of health data is a strategy for minimizing redundancy, improving efficiencies in data-related workflows and reducing administrative workloads. Findings and overviews on past services can be pulled, confirmed and understood by practitioners and other professionals in order to save time and safeguard costs.
- Improved Patient Care
When labs, histories and imaging, etc., are well integrated, clinicians are provided with a more rounded patient record, allowing for improved accuracy in diagnosing the patient, which allows the clinician to contribute to a plan of care that is individualized to the patient’s needs and accurately presented. Improved, integrated care drives down the likelihood of medical errors.
- Data-Driven Decision Making
Health systems have the opportunity to examine data patterns for use in supporting strategic decisions with regard to resource allocation, planning for and managing health-related populations, and developing and managing patient care. Making decisions based on evidence improves quality, satisfaction and reductions in cost.
- Interoperability
Data needs to be transferred between different systems, but it is equally important for there to be a fluid transfer for continuity of care. Interoperability allows for continuity of care when patients move from one institution to another, change practitioners (eg. family doctors refer to specialists) etc.
- Enhanced Security & Compliance
A holistic health data management system can allow the health system to maintain patient privacy while ensuring compliance with HIPAA and GDPR which enables patient trust and avoids penalties.
What are the Major Challenges in Health Data Management?
- Data Silos & Fragmentation
- Security & Privacy Risks
- Data Volume & Complexity
- Integration & Interoperability Issues
- Cost & Resource Constraints
Storage Solutions for Health Data
- On-Premises Storage
On-premises storage, which is still mostly utilized by hospitals, offers control and compliance – issues top priority and valuable health systems. On-premises storage has significant capital and maintenance expenditures.
- Cloud Storage
Cloud services offer agility, remote access, and disaster recovery features. Most leading cloud services now offer HIPAA compliant services. For healthcare organizations that want flexibility and cost savings, this growing option is highly feasible.
- Hybrid Storage Models
Hybrid storage models complement on-premises systems with cloud storage for the best of both worlds. This allows on-premises storage to be utilized to store sensitive information, but tap into less sensitive data to use the cloud for its speed and flexibility.
- Emerging Technologies
Block chain, edge computing and AI in healthcare such technological advancements have accelerated security, analysis efficiency, seamless storage and sharing. The increased accuracy and transparency in managing improved overall healthcare delivery.
- Encryption and Access Controls
When the data is stored on-premise or cloud storage, it does not exclude your organization from encrypting your data and using access controls. Regardless of the storage system, role-based access control can prevent breaches and ensures sensitive information being handled only by permissible individuals.
- Regular audits
Regular audits for healthcare organizations is key to understanding compliance, identifying weaknesses and channel attention to aspects of security, hence patient information is secured without any exception.
Conclusion
Health data management is increasingly becoming the foundation of a value-based health system. Providers who break out of siloed records and embrace safe, interoperable, and innovative data strategies will not only achieve compliance but also have a position of competitive value in patient outcomes and operational excellence. As precision medicine, AI, and tele-health continue to advance, the ability to tap and secure data will design tomorrow’s healthcare leaders. The future of medicine is data-driven, therefore organizations must prepare plans ahead.
To read more, visit The Healthcare Insights.