3 Ways Business Intelligence Can Help Control Diabetes

by | Sep 7, 2016 | Healthcare

Reading Time: 3 minutes

diabetesDiabetes is one of the most prevalent diseases in the U.S.: doctors diagnose around 1.4 million Americans with diabetes each year. What is perhaps even more alarming is the fact that the number of cases has been increasing. For example, 1 in 3 children born right now will have diabetes. If current trends continue, the number of diabetes patients is expected to double or triple by 2050. Diabetes is also the 7th leading cause of death in the U.S.¹ These staggering statistics demonstrate the need for proper control and procedure for treating this disease. What can healthcare organizations do to help those who have diabetes?

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Surprisingly, business intelligence can actually help with diabetes treatment. It can assist providers in identifying risks or gaps in care and analyze data in a timely manner. Here are 3 ways healthcare organizations can use BI to help with diabetes treatments.

1. Adherence to care initiatives

Healthcare organizations need to take care of their diabetic populations by ensuring patients are tested at a minimum biannually. They must also attend their follow-up appointments. With often a large patient population per provider, this can be daunting, but more easily completed with the use of business intelligence. Through the use of work queues and alerts, care managers can gain insight and visibility down to the individual patient. This enables them to use more accurate and updated information when determining appointments and studies needed as well as visualization into trends.

2. Ensure evidence-based practice and educate physicians

Business intelligence can assist in analyzing the effectiveness of treatment of the in-house diabetic patient. It can also educate physicians and encourage the use of evidence-based practices. For example, evidence has shown that using “corrective therapy” alone is less effective at stabilizing and maintaining control in the diabetic patient than using a more individualized bolus and prandial treatment protocol. Through the use of business intelligence to compare treatment protocols and analyze the outcomes of diabetic patients, physicians and caregivers can see the effectiveness of treatment over time. Not only can business intelligence show the difference in treatments and outcomes, but it also enables organizations to identify areas for improvement and increase use of best practices. This in turn, leads to improved outcomes and important learning opportunities.

3. Leverage the data you have

Using business intelligence, healthcare organizations can better utilize the data they have. For example, business intelligence solutions can help identify episodes of hyperglycemia or hypoglycemia in diabetics. It can then measure how long it takes for them to stabilize. By analyzing this data, hospitals can create work queues for the diabetic resource nurses and educators. This enables them to identify areas for educational opportunities and improvements in care. That in turn opens up the opportunity for dialogue between patients, providers and care givers. While in theory a physician or diabetic resource nurse could do this manually, business intelligence allows you to track and analyze the results of lab data for diabetic patients by nursing unit, by provider, and by patient in an efficient and timely manner.

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¹ Sources: https://www.healthline.com/health/diabetes/facts-statistics-infographic, http://www.diabetes.org/diabetes-basics/statistics/

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