Unlocking the Power of Data Analytics in Healthcare Finance - Part 1

At Butterfly Data, we truly believe that harnessing the power of data analytics has become essential for success in the healthcare industry. 

Why? Because data analytics allows finance professionals to extract valuable insights from the vast amounts of financial and operational data which are produced every quarter.

In this time where the budgets for many types of healthcare operations are being cut and more facilities than ever are finding themselves in deficit, it’s vital to invest wisely in solutions which can make a real difference to your bottom line. By analysing financial records, cost data, and performance metrics, you can identify patterns, detect inefficiencies, and gain a deeper understanding of the organisation's financial landscape.

Read on to find examples of how embedding advanced data analytics systems within your business can help you to make smarter, data-driven financial decisions and streamline operations. Find out how we’ve been helping real Healthcare Companies transform how they do business and serve patients.

Benchmarking Operational Costs

When used strategically, data analytics can help you identify cost-saving opportunities which can otherwise get lost in the noise.

For example, one of our recent projects involved combining the routine maintenance costs for what had been separate departments, to enable a shared-services approach to procurement. Over time, this led to reduced costs through the bargaining power of the combined organisation. 

Our stakeholders were stunned to find the variation in prices that had been paid over the years for the same items and services. 

Benchmarking these costs enable organisations to understand when they are over-paying, either due to using an expensive supplier or an inefficient commercial arrangement. 

This is particularly important in the current climate where the cost of maintenance work in UK hospitals has been increasing year on year and many facilities have a backlog of improvements which require significant investment.

Driving Informed Financial Decision-Making

In healthcare finance, every decision directly influences the organisation's financial performance and sustainability. 

By analysing financial and operational data, as well as industry benchmarks, finance leaders can gain valuable insights including:

• Gaining greater knowledge of any cost drivers

• Being better informed about the best performing revenue streams

• Staying abreast of potential financial risks. 

Many professionals find that gaining real-time visibility into the financial performance of various departments and initiatives is particularly valuable. These insights allow them to make quick, dynamic decisions on matters such as resource allocation. It also means the finance team can intervene early when there’s a costly error occurring within a department or a fluctuation in the market.

These technologies can also have a good impact on the experience your organisation provides, as trends or issues can be addressed more quickly than they would otherwise. 58% of business leaders worldwide report marked increases in customer or client retention as a result of real-time data analytics.

Better insight into various departments can also help with effective personnel management. This can save money wasted on overstaffing and keeps staff engagement high, which also means less expenditure in recruitment and training. 

Data analytics provides the foundation for evidence-based decision-making, allowing finance leaders to drive their organisations forward with confidence and clarity. 

Implementing Electronic Health Care Records

EHRs are nothing new but, even when they have been officially implemented, many healthcare settings continue to use handwritten documents, staffroom whiteboards, and sticky notes to collect and share data.

Getting the entire staff team on board with exclusively using Electronic Health Care Records has many benefits, such as:

• Preventing data duplication

• Being available to healthcare professionals across the private and public sector

• Being able to modify them in real time

• Reduction in misplaced records

• Decreased human error

• More reliable patient analytics and automatic systems

Using a Cyber Essentials Plus certified business such as Butterfly Data for EHRs also means hospitals can benefit from an extremely high level of privacy and security concerning their medical records, ensuring compliance with data regulations.

When the Imperial College Healthcare Trust began using EHRs, they reported savings of over £2.5 million in the first two years across their records budget and printing costs.

In the case of difficult transitions due to staff culture or a vast amount of historical paper records, there are now a variety of systems which can extract text from scans or images which can be used. 

Predicting Patient Pathways and Health Outcomes

At Butterfly Data, we’ve developed an advanced model that utilises health data to predict which patients are at higher risk of complications. 

This powerful predictive analytics tool enables healthcare providers to target these at-risk patients with tailored interventions and care plans. By doing so, hospitals can significantly reduce readmission rates, enhance patient safety, and allocate hospital resources more efficiently.

This could make a huge difference as a scientific study in 2019 by Upadhyay et al shows that unnecessary readmissions are associated with increased operational expenses.

This data can also be leveraged to stratify at risk groups amongst patients and prioritise the allocation of limited resources such as acute care beds, ventilators and ambulances. This information is invaluable for the planning team to identify patients who may require additional monitoring or even postpone their surgery until support is in place. 

All of this can allow your organisation to meet its goals in terms of its duty of care to patients, while making more efficient use of its existing resources.

Researching Patient Groups

In the past, Butterfly Data have also collaborated with NHS teams to improve the way data is combined, anonymised and shared within trusted research environments. 

This process enables experts to analyse different cohorts of patients, without compromising privacy, to better understand demographic factors which may affect access to healthcare. Patient experiences or diagnoses which may seem to be coincidence in a small pool of patients can be noticed and explored as a trend when they occur across multiple institutions.

Especially with the advances in AI, this means common patient issues for certain groups can be proactively prepared for or avoided before they occur on a large scale. As well as benefiting patients, this extra level of predictability empowers those in charge of finance to make more informed decisions on budget spend, where to channel resources, and what contingency plans may need to be made.

Stay tuned for part 2 of Unlocking the Power of Data Analytics in Healthcare Finance.