01/17/2018

Arming Doctors With Data

A group has launched an analytics dashboard to clarify costs associated with different procedures

Giving members the full picture is not always an easy thing to pull off, but the Texas Hospital Association (THA) is finding success with an analytics dashboard that lays everything out.

THA’s “Smart Ribbon” aims to make clear to doctors both their current workflow and the way that costs play a role in the decisions that they make. The approach, developed by IllumiCare and THA’s Center for Technology Innovation, is intended to make clear that each procedure and medication type has an attached cost and attached risk—and some of those costs might be higher or risks more dangerous than others.

“Many studies have proven that informing physicians about treatment costs and/or risk of patient harm, at the time and place they are about to order the next test or medication, causes them to order fewer and less expensive tests and medications,” THA states on its website. “However, there is currently no tool to automate this process.”

Please click here to read the complete article from Associations Now.