by Parker Jones | Aug 13, 2020 | Healthcare
Since nearly the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the CDC has identified three primary tactics that ordinary people can employ in their day-to-day lives to help stop the spread of the deadly disease. These are social distancing, hand washing, and wearing a mask in public. While many Americans seem to be struggling to adopt these lifestyle changes, the recommendation of wearing a mask has been the most controversial. Part of this may be due to the WHO and CDC initially doubting the effectiveness of face masks during the early days of the virus. As more data about the new disease emerged, they quickly reversed this position.
Opponents of the mask mandates argue that being compelled to wear a mask in public infringes on their freedoms, while ignoring the fact that their refusal infringes on others’ right to life. Many falsely believe that they aren’t contagious because they don’t have symptoms, or that the masks aren’t effective. However, all reliable data indicates that this is not the case. (more…)
by John Sucich | Jul 23, 2020 | General BI
It’s safe to say the 2020 Major League Baseball season will be unlike any other. Games will be played with no fans in attendance, and the fans watching from home will see a game that is at times completely different from what they’ve come to expect. Playing the game during a pandemic has resulted in rule changes as well as a shortened season and changes to the schedules teams play.
There are a number of effects the pandemic has had on baseball as an industry: no fans in the stands means there’s been a disruption to the ballpark vendor supply chain, and the sport will be dealing with financial repercussions for years. But as for the game on the field, it is one flush with statistics, and the analytics portion of baseball has to adjust for the 2020 season as well.
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by George Dealy | May 21, 2020 | General BI
The “Practical Analysis” blog series is dedicated to answering the questions: “So what is analysis anyway?” and “How can I apply it in my world?” The first installments focused on the fundamentals from which modern computer-aided analysis and decision support have evolved. They featured topics like visualization, exploratory data analysis, and statistical process control.
In the next posts, we’ll explore the emergence of what we now know as “data science” from those beginnings. Let’s examine. (more…)
by John Sucich | May 14, 2020 | Manufacturing & Supply Chain
There are certain products that have seen an increase in demand in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. Canned goods, for example, have been flying off store shelves, meaning that the companies that produce the cans for those goods have been ramping up production.
Just as important as the places producing the cans are the trucks getting them from the plants to the food companies, and then from there to the grocery stores to be sold. Here’s a look at some of the adjustments the transportation industry has had to make in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. (more…)
by Kathy Sucich | May 4, 2020 | Healthcare
Over the last several years, many EHR vendors have rolled out analytics components. What we had anecdotally heard from hospitals and health systems was that these components were lacking in their robustness and ability to provide an executive-level look at data touching all areas of the organization. Was that actually the case? We decided to survey hospitals and health systems to see if this assertion was backed by data.
In Q1 of 2020, Dimensional Insight sponsored a survey by Definitive Healthcare in which it asked 108 healthcare leaders about their experience with EHR analytics. What the data shows is that users of EHR analytics are less satisfied with their analytics solution than with in-house solutions or analytics-specific platforms, and that they face some significant challenges with the software. Here’s a closer look at some of the key data points.
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by Parker Jones | Mar 31, 2020 | General BI
Every business organization, regardless of its size, commercial sector, or number of employees, can benefit from properly organized and coordinated data. It’s no secret that access to reliable data can be leveraged to improve efficiency, simplify the decision-making process, and identify obstacles that are getting in the way of success.
However, not every company has a single, unified data tool that can organize and analyze data. According to the tenth anniversary edition of Dresner Advisory Services’ Wisdom of Crowds® Business Intelligence Market Study, more than half of the businesses surveyed expressed their intention to raise their business intelligence budgets in 2020.
Adopting a holistic data management tool can dramatically improve a company’s performance, but only if it is implemented in the right way. In her recent white paper for Dimensional Insight, Jennifer Bresnick explores four of the major challenges that companies usually face when it comes to business intelligence, and how best to overcome them. (more…)
by Jennifer Bresnick | Mar 30, 2020 | Healthcare
Healthcare organizations looking to cut costs and improve patient care are increasingly exploring how the conditions in which people live and work contribute to long-term outcomes.
Research now indicates that the social determinants of health (SDOHs), such as housing stability, access to transportation, and psycho-social safety, have an outsized impact on a patient’s ability to engage with the healthcare system and follow treatment plans for chronic and acute conditions.
Yet healthcare systems are still struggling to understand their patients’ challenges and how to connect individuals with the support they need. (more…)
by Kathy Sucich | Mar 25, 2020 | Healthcare
Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare providers don’t want patients to come into the hospital or go to their doctor’s office unless critically necessary. That means telemedicine is quickly soaring in popularity. Healthcare providers are able to see patients remotely and determine whether they need to be seen in person or if they can treat themselves at home with rest and meds.
Use of telehealth has grown rapidly over the last several years, more than doubling in use since 2010, according to the American Hospital Association. (35% of hospitals used telehealth in 2010 vs. 76% in 2017 – the last year for which data is available.) However, that use within hospitals is not necessarily widespread and there are still hurdles to overcome when deploying telehealth. In this blog post, we’ll examine the current telehealth landscape and how healthcare analytics can help providers in their telehealth efforts. (more…)
by Kathy Sucich | Jun 3, 2019 | General BI
The annual Wisdom of Crowds® Business Intelligence Market Study by Dresner Advisory Services is out, and, as always, it is chock full of information on the status of business intelligence today.
Curious about the state of data, how successful organizations are with business intelligence, and how different vendors are rated by users? Let’s examine the top takeaways from the report. (more…)
by Kathy Sucich | Mar 18, 2019 | Healthcare
KLAS Research recently announced its 2019 Best in KLAS scores in several market segments, including healthcare business intelligence and analytics. At first glance, the top vendors are ranked fairly close with just few points of variance. However, this year with the scores, KLAS also included vendor grades in different categories. These grades carry valuable information that looks more deeply at what you are getting when you implement technology.
If you’re evaluating vendors what are these areas should you consider beyond the final score? Here are 6 questions to consider.
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