From the January/February 2018 issue of HealthCare Business News magazine
Predictive analytics, fueled by artificial intelligence (AI), support clinical workflows and reduce the time required to perform case review. Several vendors are focused on supporting mid- to small-size acute care facilities that lack bandwidth to review case volume.
AI can develop algorithms that scan an image and separate abnormalities requiring review. Minor, more common issues that do not indicate larger issues are triaged accordingly so that clinicians can focus on problem areas first.
Outsourcing
As technology advances, hospitals are more apt to outsource data management services and hosting due to potential cost or responsibility reductions, while still maintaining a smaller on-site cache for image storage (i.e. speed to download). This is a major consideration given the current climate we are in regarding merger and acquisition activity in the provider space.
Health care systems nationwide are working to integrate disparate systems to an existing infrastructure and scale to meet new bandwidth needs. On-site data centers and management teams are generally expensive, difficult to scale and largely inflexible. Cloud-based services, however, provide a different strategy to managing the perils of integrating these systems and allow a focus shift back to patient-impacting issues, such as clinical practice standardization.
Cost-effectiveness of this balance between off-site/on-site balance is still open for debate as many vendors make up the margin in support fees and/or consultations. There are pros and cons to both to be considered on a case-by-case basis.
Outsourcing has also emerged as a top consideration in defense of cyber threats, particularly for small- to mid-sized facilities. Very few systems maintain adequate infrastructure of systems and people to support in-house management of cybersecurity. The outsourcing of responsibility and effort has been well received in the industry, especially as threats against health care providers rise.
Vendors often approach cybersecurity similarly and outsource data management and hosting to large services (i.e. Google, Amazon).
Purchase structures
• Capital vs. ASP (Alternate Service Provider) model. A capital purchase typically gives your facility more control and ownership, but with a higher up-front cost. ASP models are similar to a lease, which typically offer hands-free maintenance and cheaper initial costs, but are potentially more expensive in the long run. However, an ASP may be a very viable short-term solution if you are in transition and need a solution that can be implemented quickly without a long-term investment.
