A hospital does not need a staff of 50 and a $3 million budget to achieve real return on investment with healthcare analytics.
That’s according to Karen Reff, manager of decision support at Union General Hospital, a small facility in Georgia — and she speaks from experience.
In 2015, the 45-bed facility invested $50,000 and launched an analytics program that freed staff from time-consuming data-crunching activities. The analytics program enabled Union General clinicians to spend more time on delivering care, uncovering best practices that helped reduce readmissions, and pinpointing the best location for an outpatient clinic for COPD and congestive heart failure patients.
