Transforming Healthcare IT: What does the future hold?

Predicting the future is tricky, mostly because it hasn’t happened yet.  Adding to the trickiness for healthcare is that data volumes double every 18 months. This onslaught of data increases complexity and therefore makes accurately predicting the future very difficult.  As Einstein said, “One need only think of the weather, in which case the prediction even for a few days ahead is impossible.” 

Though predicting healthcare’s future is a difficult undertaking, we might glean some insights from the Ancient Greek perspective on time itself. According to author Robert Pirsig, “They saw the future as something that came upon them from behind their backs with the past receding away before their eyes. When you think about it, that's a more accurate metaphor than our present one. Who really can face the future? All you can do is project from the past…” As the future unfolds, we can observe healthcare trends and quickly respond to new emerging information in ways that can have a big impact.

Aside from the coming data tsunami in healthcare, other projections include: elevated costs with national health spending is expected to reach $5.7 trillion by 2026, an ever increasing need for precision integration and interoperability, new competition entering the healthcare industry, and massive cloud computing adoption, just to name a few.

There’s a lot going on, and to stay relevant you will need to make sure that your data analytics strategy is tied to the core of your business—to your mission. With so many moving parts, it will be critical to be able to find the right data sources and quickly sift through them, identify those that have both high value and high quality, and integrate them into your analytical capabilities.

Those who have a firm understanding of the business value they are striving to achieve will thrive in this ever-changing environment if they develop strong data analytics and business intelligence. This is what we do alongside our clients to help them prepare for the future world of IT in healthcare. How can we help you? Let us know here.