Data is driving the world forward — with organizations across all industries relying heavily on data analytics to better understand their customers, create improved products, and develop an enhanced consumer experience. Within the healthcare field, valuable, high-quality data can equip healthcare administrators and healthcare providers with the ability to improve the patient experience and streamline operations at healthcare facilities. Given the central role of data in the modern healthcare landscape, it's not surprising that there is heightened demand for healthcare analytics specialists.
What Is Healthcare Data Analytics?
Healthcare data analytics is defined by the International Organization for Standardization as a specialized field that blends the best healthcare practices with the power of technology. These data analysts work to collect and analyze hospital data, medical data, and clinical data to create actionable insights that can help:
- Streamline operations
- Improve resource allocation
- Reduce healthcare costs
- Enhance patient outcomes
While current healthcare data analysts can have a significant impact on the healthcare field as a whole, there is still plenty of untapped potential. Thus, the years to come will be full of potential for those who are interested in pursuing a healthcare analytics career.
Types of Healthcare Data Analytics
Several key types of healthcare data analytics play a pivotal part in the process of developing actionable insights for healthcare leaders and providers to use each day. Understanding the purpose of each type of healthcare data analytics, specialists in this field will be able to identify patterns taking shape and improve evidence-based decision-making within healthcare organizations.
These are the three main types of healthcare data analytics:
Descriptive Analytics
Descriptive analytics is the initial phase of any healthcare analytics strategy. According to CompTIA, healthcare data analysts often use descriptive analytics to glean insight from historical patient data. Through descriptive analytics, healthcare data analysts are able to better understand previous healthcare events, then create reports that can help healthcare providers establish benchmarks and make adjustments in the future.
Predictive Analytics
Predictive analytics is often applied after descriptive analytics has been used to create context from previous data. Data analysts leverage the power of predictive analytics by collecting both previous and current data in order to predict future healthcare events. Through predictive analytics, analysts can gain a firmer grasp of the trends shaping the healthcare field, then use that data to accurately forecast and model events that are likely to happen in the future.
Prescriptive Analytics
As the final stage of the healthcare analytics process, prescriptive analytics is crucial to the success of any data-driven healthcare strategy. Prescriptive analytics relies on machine learning technology to create a strategy based on predictive analytics results. Performing accurate and timely prescriptive analytics is key to developing actionable insights that healthcare providers can use to modify practices and improve patient outcomes that are rooted in accurate and relevant data.
Benefits of Healthcare Analytics
Big data has the power to transform the healthcare landscape. At a time when the healthcare industry is becoming increasingly burdened — and healthcare leaders as well as providers are seeking innovative solutions to some of the most complex modern challenges — data analytics has never been more influential or important.
According to Verizon Business, some of the key benefits associated with using healthcare analytics within a healthcare organization or facility include:
Enhanced Diagnosis and Treatment Plans
Healthcare providers are tasked with the challenge of caring for a diverse pool of patients, with each individual patient requiring personalized care and attention. Healthcare analytics can allow providers to receive actionable information based on the most accurate and relevant patient data, in turn enabling them to improve the precision of their diagnoses and craft personalized treatment plans that lead to the best possible outcomes.
Improving Patient Engagement
At a time when the healthcare field is burdened by staffing shortages, it can be difficult for providers to truly connect with their patients. Through healthcare analytics, healthcare administrators use data in order to provide patients with personalized communications and develop outreach efforts designed to increase patient engagement levels. By focusing on fostering improved relationships with patients, healthcare organizations may increase their overall patient satisfaction ratings and ultimately grow their patient base.
Optimizing Operational Efficiency
Healthcare administrators rely heavily on data analytics to better understand how resources were used in the past and to determine where they can streamline efficiency in the future. For example, healthcare analysts can harvest data related to resource investments and allocations — and then use predictive and prescriptive analytics to generate solutions that may improve resource allocation while reducing the costs of purchasing supplies and inventory. Working to improve operational efficiency can help healthcare administrators decrease the risk of staff burnout while simultaneously improving the patient experience overall.
Financial Benefits and Cost Reduction
One of the most notable benefits of leveraging the power of data in the healthcare field? Data-driven decision-making can help substantially reduce healthcare costs. Combining historical information with real-time data, healthcare analysts may develop models for solutions that reduce overhead costs, streamline efficiency, and ultimately reduce costs for patients. As a result, healthcare analytics is expected to play an essential role in the push to increase health equity and improve healthcare access for all patients.
Tracking and Managing Epidemics
Although healthcare analytics is primarily used on the business side of healthcare operations, healthcare professionals are also finding that real-time patient data can help them identify the signs of epidemic disease spread within a community. Tracking patient data allows healthcare providers and public health experts to communicate clear and relatable information to the community — helping curb the spread of disease and effectively manage an epidemic before it gains traction and becomes more widespread throughout the region.
How to Pursue a Career in Healthcare Analytics
According to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the demand for healthcare analytics professionals and health information technologists is on the rise. The BLS estimates this field to grow by about 16% between 2023 and 2033, with more than 6,400 new jobs expected each year over the course of the decade.
If you are interested in pursuing a career in this niche field that blends technology and healthcare, now is an excellent time to begin focusing on the core competencies required to work in this sector. Consider the following steps for breaking into the realm of healthcare analytics:
Earn Your Education
Your path toward a career in healthcare analytics begins with your education. In most cases, you need a bachelor's degree in order to pursue entry-level positions in healthcare analytics. Many students opt to complete a bachelor's degree in a related discipline (such as technology, computer science, or data science).
However, to qualify for the most advanced positions in healthcare analytics, you likely need to complete a graduate degree program. A master's degree in healthcare analytics will allow you to explore advanced data science topics that relate specifically to the healthcare field, such as:
- Healthcare system design
- Machine learning in healthcare
- Healthcare data visualization and reporting
- Healthcare finance
- Advanced healthcare analytics
Graduates find that they leave the program with the ability to:
- Manage and analyze healthcare databases
- Apply machine learning and AI technology in the healthcare field
- Provide financial insight to healthcare administrators
- Design compelling and accurate data visualization reports for healthcare leaders
Gain Experience
After completing your master's degree in healthcare analytics, you can pursue additional professional opportunities to gain experience in this sector. Many graduate students work to secure an internship while working on their master's degree, as it allows them to gain hands-on experience in the industry under the guidance of a professional mentor. Through internship programs and entry-level professional positions, you can begin to learn more about the specialty areas in healthcare analytics and continue to refine your career path.
Build Your Skills
Even after earning a graduate degree in healthcare analytics, you will want to focus on skill development throughout your career. After all, the healthcare analytics field will continue to be reshaped by evolving technology in the years to come — so invest in ongoing training and professional development to develop practical and technical skills as well as the core competencies needed to succeed in this industry.
Get Certified
Depending on the degree program you choose and the area in which you aim to specialize within the healthcare analytics field, you might need to pursue certification programs. By becoming certified, you may have easier access to high-level opportunities.
Learn More About the Critical Role of Data Analysis in Healthcare at Champlain College Online
The specialized field of healthcare analytics is shifting rapidly, particularly as both healthcare administrators and providers actively work to leverage the power of data to enhance patient care and improve patient outcomes.
That’s why Champlain College Online offers a Master of Science in Healthcare Analytics degree program focused on the fundamental principles of healthcare database management, allowing students to become proficient in advanced analytical techniques. To get started, request more information about our online graduate degree programs today.
