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Predictive analytics are set to take preventative medicine to the next level. Making sense of Big Data will increase patient care, decrease labor demands, and reduce financial losses suffered by hospitals.
Medicine’s history – and its present – has largely consisted of reactive measures aimed at identifying existing conditions and preventing them from getting worse. But caregivers strive to use existing patient data to predict what they’re at risk of and act accordingly to prevent disease or injury – and this capability is set to grow exponentially.
Predictive analytics (PA) are a data-dissecting goldmine that can allow caregivers to use patient data to stop trouble before it starts, as well as optimize how a medical facility operates.
The basics of predictive analytics
Predictive analytics use data to predict future outcomes channeled through four stages – data gathering (more technically known as data mining), data modeling, statistical analysis, and deployment. PA also utilizes Artificial Intelligence and, specifically, elements of machine learning.
The data mining stage allows hospitals to take in a wealth of information encompassing a patient’s medical history and aspects of their wider lifestyle; collection that is much more comprehensive than was previously available. This data is then examined for any past patterns – positive, negative, or otherwise – which can be used to model a likely future outcome and prevent negative health incidents, ranging from a fall or the flu to cancer, heart disease, or suicide.
Many caregivers are already using some form of predictive analytics. A report from the Society of Actuaries revealed:
- 49% of care providers currently utilize it
- 57% of executives see predictive analytics saving them between 15 and 25 percent in expenses within the next 5 years
- 89% of health providers and payers (such as insurance carriers or health plan sponsors) intend to utilize PA in the next 5 years
- 93% see this model as important to the future of the medical business
The effective use of analytics can mean patients get more personal attention. For example, the holistic view of health provided by the technology saw one California hospital cut costly falls by 39 percent, simply based on increased data awareness.
These analytics also help streamline the operational flow of a medical facility. Their insights can reduce the number of patients readmitted during the potentially costly 30-day window (one facility reduced this by 40 percent, thanks to PA) as well as keep hospitals one step ahead of habitual no-show appointments. One study highlighted how PA could save hospitals close to $10 million by optimizing their supply chain.
The power to analyze past and present can be applied to cut future costs – boosting revenues, mitigating risks, and improving the overall relationship between healthcare consumers and providers. Does this mean that doctors and nurses are becoming obsolete? Not at all. Like any technology, PA can be a valuable ally when it’s used to complement and streamline human performance.
Technology can work wonders, but the connection between people and machines remains key.
To maximize data performance, you must maximize your connection
No matter the data demands on their facility, 7SIGNAL’s clients enjoy a wireless connection that’s monitored by vigilant human eyes as well as two highly technical ones – the Sapphire and the Mobile. Our wireless network monitoring service is used at numerous hospitals to root out and solve not only actual Wi-Fi problems but any potential ones a facility may be headed for.
We know how much data a hospital must process, so we haven’t stopped innovating. We’re keeping pace with technology by adding expanded AI elements to our service which further increase the speed and efficiency of wireless engineering processes. This improves both a hospital’s user experience and the service they give their patients by cutting down on productivity-sapping Wi-Fi maintenance, connection disruptions, and costs.
It’s only a matter of time before every hospital integrates predictive analytics, in some form or fashion, into their care model. Whether you already have it or plan to leverage this technology, we want to help you effectively maintain the reliable wireless connection that enables its usage. Try out our free demo today.
7SIGNAL® is a leader in enterprise Wireless Network Monitoring. The 7SIGNAL platform is a cloud-based Wireless Network Monitoring (WNM) solution that continuously troubleshoots the wireless network for performance issues – maximizing network uptime, device connectivity, and network ROI. Contact us to discover how we continuously monitor the connectivity of over 4 million global devices.