Clinical Informatics Key to Boosting Care, Cutting Costs, PwC Report Says

Clinical informatics could be a valuable tool for improving patient health  and reducing health care costs, according to a report by PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Health  Research Institute, Healthcare IT News reports.

Report Details

The report states that health care organizations should view clinical  informatics as crucial to their financial success and their ability to manage  patient care and wellness.

The report also noted that clinical informatics could be used  to engage patients in managing their own health.

Previous Survey

PwC based the new report on data from a previous survey of 600 health care organizations  about their health informatics needs.

Among health care provider respondents, the survey found that:

• About 79% said they look to clinical informatics to reduce medical  errors;
• 61% said they hope informatics will boost population health; and
• 52% said that informatics will help reduce costs by increasing patient  involvement in their own preventive care.

Among health insurer respondents, the survey found that:

• 85% said they believe clinical informatics will improve management of cancer  and other complex medical cases;
• 80% said they believe informatics will help reduce preventable emergency  department visits and hospital readmissions; and
• 56% said they believe informatics will boost early diagnosis and  prevention of certain diseases.

However, the survey found that only 15% of health insurers and 13% of health  care providers believe they have influenced patient behavior through the use of  clinical informatics (Miliard, Healthcare IT News, 3/2).

Daniel Garrett, health IT practice leader at PwC, said, “Health organizations  recognize the value of effective informatics and analytics, but they are  struggling to institutionalize the insight, make it actionable and use it for  competitive advantage” (PricewaterhouseCoopers release, 3/2).

Source: iHealthBeat

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