Current practices in clinical analytics: a hospital survey report

Clinical analytics must become a pervasive activity in healthcare settings to achieve the global vision for timely, effective, equitable, and excellent care. Global adoption of the Electronic Health Record (EHR) has increased the volume of data available for performance measurement and healthcare organizational capacity for continuous quality improvement. However, EHR adoption does not automatically result in optimal use of clinical data for performance improvement. In order to understand organizational factors related to use of data for clinical analytics, a survey was conducted of hospitals and hospital-based clinics. The survey revealed sub-optimal use of data captured as a byproduct of care delivery, the need for tools and methodologies to assist with data analytics, and the need for disciplined organizational structure and strategies. Informatics nurse professionals are well-positioned to lead analytical efforts and serve as a catalyst in their facility's transformations into a data-driven organization.