As healthcare leaders look into ways to bend the cost curve in today’s value-based reimbursement environment, they are faced with many vendors offering analytics solutions. The key is to determine which product best fits the organization’s needs, not just now but for the long term. This article discusses the five primary options available and the pros and cons of each one. The five analytics options include the following: (1) Buy from a hosted analytics service provider. (2) Buy from a large non-healthcare-specific technology vendor. (3) Buy “best of breed” point solutions. (4) Buy from the EMR vendor. (5) Buy and build an analytics solution from a healthcare data warehouse platform vendor.

1. Cut Through the Confusion:
The 5 Types of Healthcare
Analytics Solutions
— Paul Horstmeier

2. Instead, it could take 10 to 15 years for the health system
to implement a comprehensive analytics solution.
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Leveraging Healthcare Analytics
Healthcare providers across the
country are looking to healthcare
analytics solutions to help them
comply with CMS’s cost-cutting
and reporting requirements.
To significantly bend the cost
curve requires more than a quick
purchase and installation
of yet another piece of software.
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3. Which analytics solution will
serve you best and provide an
optimal return on investment
(ROI), now and in the future?
First, it helps to understand the
five options available in today’s
marketplace.
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Leveraging Healthcare Analytics
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4. IBM and Oracle fall in the large
non-healthcare-specific
technology vendor category.
They both have extensive data
warehouse expertise across
many industries.
Yet these companies’ greatest
strength — experience across
many industries — is also their
greatest potential weakness.
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Buy from a Large Non-Healthcare-
Specific Technology Vendor
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Option
1
ANALYTIC
SOLUTION

5. Their data warehouses are not
tailored for the specific needs
of healthcare.
Because their data warehouse
architecture has been effective
in other industries, such as
manufacturing and retail,
doesn’t mean it’s suited for
healthcare’s unique needs.
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Buy from a Large Non-Healthcare-
Specific Technology Vendor
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5
Option
1
ANALYTIC
SOLUTION

6. Some health systems choose to
outsource all of their analytics. This
is an option for providers that want
to avoid setting up data analytics
but still aspire to improve basic
internal and external reporting.
Generally these systems have
limited application and adaptability
and may not allow progression
beyond level 3 or 4 of the Analytics
Adoption Model.
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Buy from a Hosted Analytics
Service Provider
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Option
2
ANALYTIC
SOLUTION

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Buy from a Hosted Analytics
Service Provider
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Option
2
ANALYTIC
SOLUTION
Healthcare Analytics Adoption Model

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Buy from Single-Solution Analytics
Applications from Developers
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Option
3
ANALYTIC
SOLUTION
Another option is to adopt single-solution
applications like Crimson,
Midas, or Medventive to target
specific analytic opportunities.
With expertise in specific areas
these suppliers may have an
affordability appeal.
These systems have limited ability
for complex analyses. Many
single-solution applications do not
facilitate data integration.

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Buy from Single-Solution Analytics
Applications from Developers
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Option
3
ANALYTIC
SOLUTION
With this option, the CIO is now
responsible for managing dozens
or hundreds of analytics
applications.
These applications still need to
have data fed to them, which
means also building some form of
data warehouse.

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Buy from Your EMR Vendor
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Option
4
ANALYTIC
SOLUTION
With investment in an electronic
medical records (EMR) system,
many health systems look to
their EMR vendor for analytics
capabilities.
There is a tradeoff to using an
EMR as a healthcare analytics
solution. EMRs are designed to
capture and process large
amounts of data, not to analyze
or make sense of it.

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Option
4
ANALYTIC
SOLUTION
Some of the disadvantages of
this option are:
 Lack of analytic functionality
 Weak change management ability
 Difficult to merge and incorporate
data from other vendors
 “All eggs in one basket” scenario
when using your EMR supplier for
the data analytic solution as well

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Buy and Build an Analytics
Solution from a Healthcare-Specific
Enterprise Data Warehouse Vendor
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Option
5
ANALYTIC
SOLUTION
Buy from a healthcare-specific
enterprise data warehouse (EDW)
vendor.
These vendors offer solutions with
the highest degree of analytic
flexibility and adaptability, up to
Level 8 of the Adoption Model.
They can leverage expertise in
building EDWs to incorporate data
from many different systems to
make it available to all of the
various analytics applications.

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Buy and Build an Analytics
Solution from a Healthcare-Specific
Enterprise Data Warehouse Vendor
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Option
5
ANALYTIC
SOLUTION
For this approach to be successful
a healthcare organization must
have a data-driven culture with
high aspirations that views
analytics as a clear business
differentiator.
The organization’s culture should
also have a commitment to a
higher degree of data literacy and
data management skills.

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Many Options for Analytics
The good news is there are
several options for analytic
solutions to choose from.
The key is to determine
which vendor best fits your
organization’s clinical
analytics needs, not just
now but for the long term.
Make sure the solution you
choose has the flexibility to
make adjustments in the
future too.
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15. Link to original article for a more in-depth discussion.
Cut Through the Confusion:
The 5 Types of Healthcare Analytics Solutions
The Analytics Adoption Model Explained (a free, on-demand webinar, transcript, and slides)
Dale Sanders, Senior VP of Strategy
© 2014 Health Catalyst
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More about this topic
Why Databases and EMRs Don’t Make the Cut on Their Own
David Burton, MD, Senior VP and Former Executive Chairman
How to Unlock the Analytic Value of Your EHR
Dan Burton, CEO
Why Point Solutions Strike Out
Ken Trowbridge, VP
How to Evaluate a Clinical Analytics Vendor: A Checklist
Dale Sanders, Senior VP of Strategy
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16. – John Haughom, MD, Senior Advisor, Health Catalyst
© 2014 Health Catalyst
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17. Other Clinical Quality Improvement Resources
Paul Horstmeier brings 25 years of Fortune 500 and small business operations and
general management experience to Health Catalyst. He co-founded HB Ventures and
filled senior executive roles at HB Ventures portfolio companies. Within Hewlett-
Packard, Mr. Horstmeier launched and grew three different businesses, including co-founding
HP's commercial e-commerce business which later expanded to include the
management of the data systems and infrastructure for marketing operations across
the company. As Vice President of HP.com, he headed up a 700-person organization which was
awarded nearly every industry award for quality and innovation during his tenure.
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