While many providers struggle to figure out what to do with massive storehouses of health data, some have found positive applications--with quantifiable results.

An emergency department information system has streamlined operations, boosted revenue and increased the time emergency physicians can spend with each patient at the Hospital of Central Connecticut, thanks largely to a focus on business intelligence. "The value has been enormous for the money I paid for the BI. The return on both my time and the ability to improve my department has paid off many, many times over," Dr. Jeff A. Finkelstein, the hospital's chief of emergency medicine, said Wednesday during the HIMSS Virtual Conference, CMIO reports.

"Why did we see the need for BI? We were data-rich and information-poor," Finkelstein added. The Cerner EDIS has been in place for five years and the Hospital of Central Connecticut now captures 1,000 data points on each patient. But prior to installation of a BI engine, it took eight to 10 hours a month to produce complex, custom reports on metrics such as length of stay, billing and patient satisfaction because information was coming from four different databases.

The new intelligence has helped hospital officials pinpoint problems with workflow and operations and allowed clinical leaders to concentrate on clinical issues. "BI gave me back the time to do my real job, which is to lead a department and to take care of patients," Finkelstein said.

To learn more:
- read this CMIO story

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