Without well managed and efficiently produced data, improvement efforts go nowhere fast. At HCI, we've settled on “operational intelligence” to describe the phenomenon of applying business intelligence to clinical and operational improvement efforts. Our two-part cover story, “Transforming Data into Directives,” page 56, takes a look at how operational intelligence innovations are breaking down performance-improvement barriers. In Part One, we talk to a few healthcare facilities to see how they're working to transform terabytes of raw data into a guide for better clinical care. And in Part Two, we look at how dashboard-type mechanisms are helping CIOs and other C-suite executives make financial and administrative decisions in a more timely way.
More data needs to be stored now than ever before. As the information age surges ahead and a growing number of clinical applications and upgrades become available, data storage is becoming a big challenge for hospitals. CIOs are finding that they must take serious measures, and in “Data Deluge,” page 27, we take a look at what some hospitals are doing to address this ever-growing problem — especially when a new EMR strains an already overloaded data center.
When it comes to closeloop medication administration, the final step is the most perilous. Bedside administration is the last line of defense in preventing medication errors — and the place where most of them slip by. In the final installment of our three-part series on medication administration, “The Final Hurdle,” page 18, we take a look at the bedside transmission of drugs from nurse to patient, and see why many CIOs are finding that the bedside is the most critical place to eliminate medication errors.
Healthcare Informatics 2008 August;25(8):11
