Healthcare providers need to sharpen their handling of data

Data will be central to a revolution in healthcare. The global healthcare Big Data market will be worth $71.6 billion by 2027, with providers investing up to 25 % of their total budgets in technology. Data is driving innovation in diagnostics, life sciences, and operational efficiency, among others, and helping healthcare professionals focus more on patient health and well-being. Similarly, AI and cloud computing will enable better connected systems of care that leverage all available health data to improve treatment, care and prevention.

Access to the right data and effective technology will enable a greater focus on patients. By understanding each patient's individual medical history, from diagnosis to the efficacy of specific treatments to potential adverse effects that need to be managed, healthcare professionals can make more informed decisions and achieve better outcomes. Effective use of healthcare data also enables intelligent analytics and automated processes that increase efficiency and allow physicians and healthcare professionals to prioritize patient care.

However, there are hurdles that make this smart, connected approach to healthcare difficult. Data tends to be fragmented, making it difficult to deliver efficient, personalized care. At the same time, increasing challenges with regulatory compliance and cybersecurity precautions are forcing healthcare organizations to take a proactive approach to managing data.

Putting the data puzzle together

The healthcare industry faces major challenges when it comes to data management. Traditionally, healthcare organizations purchase and operate their own systems, with patient data scattered across different departments, databases and solution providers. Patient data is captured in a very fragmented manner both within organizations and across the industry. As with all databases, this thus creates inefficiencies and makes it difficult to use the data for analysis, diagnosis, research and appropriate action.

To unlock the full potential of healthcare data, traditionally well-managed and stored in a structured way must be merged with unstructured data to create a unified view of relevant information. Healthcare is storing more and more data from more and more sources, including wearables and patient apps. Finding useful data in this volume can be like looking for a needle in a haystack. Moving toward a well-integrated autonomous database in the cloud, for example, will allow providers to realize the full potential of their data and gain insights that improve patient care.

Healthcare providers leading by example

Case in point: With Oracle Analytics Cloud and Autonomous Data Warehouse, Sejong Hospital in South Korea, a leading hospital specializing in heart disease, has improved the impact on the lives of over 1,600 children with heart disease. Capturing data throughout the medical process and seamlessly providing real-time information to medical teams means that life-saving decisions that once took hours to evaluate can now be made in minutes.

American Hospital Dubai, as another example, is also aiming to use data to improve patient outcomes through its comprehensive digital transformation. Working with Cerner and Oracle, the hospital implemented a new electronic health record to enable physicians to provide better patient care and introduced a resource planning platform to reduce costs and increase productivity. This integrated patient data also forms the basis for the hospital's AI and robotics research, leading to further benefits for patients.

In Switzerland, the University Hospital of Geneva (HUG) is one of five university hospitals in Switzerland and operates eight hospitals in the canton of Geneva as well as 40 outpatient clinics and specialty clinics in the region. Geneva University Hospital has migrated the majority of its database systems to Oracle Exadata Cloud@Customer, an option of Oracle Exadata Cloud Services, which is delivered as a managed service in its own data center. Oracle Exadata Cloud@Customer thus enables HUG to consolidate its mission-critical systems on a single IT platform while complying with relevant data retention regulations.

Healthcare is not a one-size-fits-all

Each patient should be considered individually. They have different medical needs, treatment plans and communication preferences. And yet, most patient treatments and medical analyses are standardized. The pandemic has raised patient expectations, and with the advent of virtual appointments, the range of personalized experiences patients have is expanding. Telemedicine platforms alone are seeing a growth rate of 1,000 %. When healthcare providers increase their focus on personalized patient experiences online and offline, everyone receives the treatment that makes sense for them. It can also improve outcomes by ensuring that individual patients better adhere to treatment plans.

A rigorous approach to data management, if implemented effectively, can lead to greater personalization and lower healthcare costs. Coloplast A/S, a Danish multinational company that develops and manufactures medical devices, supports its patients with a personalized support program. Here, Coloplast Care works with Oracle Customer Experience (CX) solutions and supports nurses and doctors directly by providing them with information tailored to them and the situation.

Working with regulations and restrictions

The majority of people are concerned about the security of their health data. Health data is rightly subject to heightened protection. Providers can work with regulations in a compliant and secure manner and use the data to achieve better outcomes for patients. Regional regulations such as the GDPR in Europe include categorization and protections specific to health data. They also include data localization requirements that are particularly sensitive for cloud-based healthcare providers. Therefore, robust governance is of utmost importance, not only to protect patients, but also to protect organizations from law enforcement.

Dutch health insurer Zorg & Zekerheid ensures that its customers receive high-quality, affordable care based on comprehensive data sets and relies on automation to further increase data security. By implementing Oracle Autonomous Data Warehouse, almost all manual tasks that can provoke human error have been automated. Automation provides improved security, reduces costs and saves time. Data is further secured by encrypting unused and active data, protecting regulated data, and quickly scanning and detecting threats.

Data-driven healthcare

It has been shown that healthcare providers who invest in their data management can provide better patient care and gain a competitive advantage. Connected and secure data will not only lead to improvements within healthcare, but also to more advanced medical advances, greater diversity and efficiency in clinical trials, and faster time to market for medicines. Responsible use of health data saves lives, and we've only just begun to scratch the surface of what can be accomplished. As Dr. Shetty of Narayana Health from the largest heart clinic in the world, says, "We believe in God, but for everything else, we need data."

Author:
Thierry Buecheler is Head of Key Cloud Business, Business Value & Strategy EMEA at Oracle.