Lakeland Regional Health Recognized for Data Analytics System
by MARY TOOTHMAN
Lakeland Regional Health has earned national honors for technology initiatives that contribute to the delivery of best outcomes and the safest care to patients and families.
After a rigorous, onsite validation, Lakeland Regional Health was given high marks on how it makes use of computer data that may otherwise have gone unused.
The implementation of data analytics systems — which have become widely used in the past decade — has drawn attention to and made use of the type of information that has long been entered into computer systems and essentially forgotten.
Lakeland Regional Health was one of 10 health systems worldwide — and the first in Florida — to rank Stage 6 on the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Analytics — Adoption Model for Analytics Maturity (AMAM). The AMAM is an international benchmark for the use of advanced analytics to improve patient care.
Caroline Gay, Lakeland Regional Health’s Chief Population Health Officer and Chief Analytics Officer, leads a staff of more than a dozen professionals who work to make good use of stored information that was at one time largely ignored.
Making use of data that has been entered into the hospital’s computer system has been a game-changer, Gay says. “In healthcare, we did not have a digital tool designed to collect and make use of this information,” Gay says. Now that there is a history of collecting and analyzing the data, the resulting information is especially valuable.
“Now that we have 10 years’ worth of information, we can start looking at trends — here and at other hospitals.”
The range of areas data analytics makes possible to examine and improve is tremendous, Gay says. Topics that can be examined and analyzed include everything from how long it takes for a patient’s call button to be answered to long-term successes or possible changes in the way life-or-death surgeries are performed.
“At Lakeland Regional Health, we constantly look for ways to leverage the data and health information from our innovative technology platforms to deliver the best patient outcomes,” Gay says. “Our analytics and clinical teams collaborate well to ensure that patient care is our top priority.”
Some analytics initiatives at Lakeland Regional Health worthy of note:
- Data analytics in the Emergency Department support top decile national performance. Information shows that more than 80 percent of patients were treated and released in less than three hours.
- Advanced data visualization has contributed to achievement and sustainment results that are better than national averages for surgical site infections, as well as for methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and Clostridioides difficult (C. diff.).
- Ongoing data mining of clinical indicators from electronic health records allows for pattern recognition, quality monitoring, and continuous improvement.
- Sepsis Crawler, an electronic system that monitors a patient’s vital signs and lab results, identifies and allows team members to treat patients who have early-onset blood infections.
- Predictive data analytics, such as readmission predictors, help clinical team members identify patients who may need special attention.
In addition to the honor from HIMSS Analytics, the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives named Lakeland Regional Health one of 2019’s Most Wired hospital and health systems. This is the fifth time in six years Lakeland Regional Health has earned recognition from Most Wired.
The healthcare system earned certified Level 8, with Level 10 being the top certification level.
The Most Wired program conducts a survey every year to assess how effectively healthcare organizations apply core and advanced technologies into clinical and business programs to improve community health and care.
Among the advanced technologies used at Lakeland Regional Health:
- A mobile application for patients and families to access records and schedule appointments.
- Comprehensive adoption of electronic health record workflows.
- Extensive cyber-security technology to safeguard patient and team member records.
- Comprehensive analytics and data management services to support inpatient care quality, population health activities and financial outcomes.
“Patients need to be able to conveniently and quickly access their medical information and easily connect with their healthcare provider,” says Ana Kalman, vice-president, chief information officer and chief application officer for the hospital.
“We are steadfast in our commitment to use leading-edge technology to continually enhance patient-provider communications.”