Big Data-Big Deal? Why is there Still Such A Disconnect?
Here’s the thing- Big Data means something to engineers who design the programs but it is useless information if executives, marketing and employees on down the line don’t know what they need or want, which is why we get Big Data Dumps. And most recently we heard the stories of 2% of physicians making up for 25% of the total Medicare payouts. The government has the data but they didn’t know what to do with it to prevent fraud. A simple run of all codes per physician specialty from the top paying code down would have prevented that problem. Easy, right? No because both sides the engineers and executives need to speak the same language. And they don’t.
Data is only good if you know what you need from the system and how to use it properly.
There is a major disconnect between what we need to know and how quickly we can get it. If you have the luxury of building your own platform as an executive you have to make sure you know the numbers you need to establish a baseline, how to accurately build projections and in some cases quotas. Here are some sample questions:
What is the baseline of each product or service?
What part of the business do you want to grow and why? And because I have to answer to Board Members or Shareholders is not an answer. Do your research of the market, look at the trends and anticipate where the company can create a new market.
How much do I want to grow it? Slow and steady wins the race but today in startup we see people blinded by billions and care only about profitability and the trend is moving towards sustainability. Customers will not trust a company if they dumped a product and ran!
How quickly can numbers be accessed of one product or service x a day/week/month/quarterly/annually?
What are the strengths in the business?
What are the weaknesses in the business?
If you’re not as fortunate and have to work with a prefabricated system like EMR (Electronic Medical Records) systems then this proves to be even more of a challenge. Engineers who designed for medical offices never worked in medical offices and their goal (not unlike most startups) was to show profitability without the need or care for sustainability. Which means product was dumped in offices without support services. There is a lot of hand holding that needs to go on in order for this to be a successful transaction; and, Big Data companies are less concerned with this part.
People from the Big Data side sadly and quite arrogantly think everyone thinks and learns like they do. For instance, when I was training the office and asked for manuals I was told by the EMR company that ‘no one sends out manuals everything is done online and through video.” That’s great-for them. They’re used to that medium, comfortable with that medium and that’s really all they seem to care about. And I’m not afraid of technology but I understand workflow and technology and the EMR side misses the mark on that one.
In a physician’s office where multiple people share multiple computers video training is not always the best option. It’s a nice adjunct but shouldn’t be the primary source or even secondary source of training. It should be a resource after training. So here’s a peek behind the curtain in your physician’s office:
The Medical Assistant, who takes you back into the private room and gets your vitals is also returning patient calls, calls to the pharmacy, getting the electronic records for the next patient ready, calling in prior authorizations for special testing, and trying to figure out a computer system that needs another computer to show them how it works. That is a design flaw or in the office a workflow flaw. And those are the reasons that people in physician’s offices still need manuals. I know startup medical is trying to cut costs but not at the expense of customers and their patients.
So if you’re spinning that wheel at the top of the page and not sure what to do, or what data you need, reach out to someone who speaks both languages and create a comprehensive plan with sustainable growth and increased profitability. There is not harm in not knowing but there is in not seeking help when you need it. Contact: melayna@mmpiher.com