The age of data-driven care: Three ways the laboratory is a strategic asset for health systems

Every day, hospital lab professionals process thousands of samples a day, producing a wealth of information with far-reaching benefits for hospitals and their patients. This valuable information not only helps drive individual patient care decisions, it's evolving the hospital lab into a more strategic role of a data center.

That's because as healthcare continues its shift to value-based care, opportunities to measure, analyze, track, and make informed decisions based on patient data are becoming increasingly important. Additionally, at the health system level, aggregate data can support population health efforts.

In the age of data-driven care, here are three key ways the laboratory serves as a strategic asset for health systems.

In a setting where timing is everything, it's critical to have access to information that supports timely and informed decision making. Lab data, particularly data from an in-hospital lab, speeds up the process of accessing accurate and reliable testing and results. The outcome: better patient management, with care decisions based on real data surrounding a patient's individual health circumstances.

In-hospital laboratories simplify the process of keeping patient data all in one place. Owning this data is key—it helps ensure the efficiency of data utilization and keeps patients, and their data, in network.

“Hospitals have an untapped asset in this information, and there is tremendous knowledge that can be gleaned from the data that's being collected in the lab," said Chris Kerski, senior vice president and general manager of Laboratory Products at Cardinal Health. This includes lab testing conducted as part of an inpatient protocol of care, as well as routine outpatient testing.

“All of that data already resides within the health record of a patient," Kerski added. "Having access to this data across a health system is a fundamental part of continuity of care and makes it convenient for patients to receive more of their care within a system."

Large sets of clinical data, including lab data, provide major opportunities for health systems to analyze metrics and locate broad trends, zeroing in on ways to improve the management of key populations and keep their costs down. This is crucial when it comes to reducing the burden of chronic illnesses, which cost the U.S. healthcare system $1.1 trillion in 2016.

For example, the cost of lifetime care for a non-compliant patient with diabetes can run upwards of $80,000, compared to just $1,684 for a patient receiving regular diagnostic testing. Data-driven care afforded by hospital laboratories allows health systems to monitor wellness and mitigate risks, identifying costly care indicators before they turn into bigger issues.

Lab data helps hospitals intervene sooner with their patient populations, Berlin said, and these intervening steps enable hospitals to “focus more on wellness or managing a disease, as opposed to having to treat a patient once an event has happened." This approach is more convenient for both the patient and hospital, improving not just the bottom line but also the patient experience. In an era of consumer-driven healthcare and hospital star ratings, improving the patient experience can help enhance the public perception of a health system.