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Initial and continuing training from your data partner is necessary to provide the knowledge needed to effectively harness your organization's data and deploy it in meaningful ways. New users must participate in initial training to acquire the key knowledge to run and modify standard financial and utilization reports. Continued training ensures that users familiarize themselves with new updates, data streams and methods to slice and dice their data in the most comprehensive manner. Both elements of training are vital as healthcare is a constantly evolving industry with changes coming from the organizational, local, state and federal levels. A new regulation here or a new law there can change what type of data is the most relevant to the user and to the organization.
Knowing how to compensate for such industry-wide changes can distinguish a successful organization from one that is left behind in this fast-moving field. Even a seasoned user -- one who constantly runs and reviews data reports -- may not be fully aware of all of the capabilities that today's highly sophisticated health data solutions can offer. Continuing to grow their knowledge base to get the most out of their data -- and working closely with their data partner -- becomes more and more important as the data itself continues to become more complex and diverse. With an ongoing commitment to training, best practices and smart workflows can be developed to ensure that data is being accessed and utilized in the smartest way possible.
With such a wealth of communication methods available, a comprehensive program can now include a combination of e-learning, face-to-face learning, job aids and webinars to maximize both the time and the financial investment in training your organization makes. Certification programs can assist in placing users in the most appropriate trainings for their current skills and measure the depth of their knowledge. Learning how to maximize your health data has never been easier, more convenient or more important.
Health data is tremendously complex, and the sheer amount of it can be overwhelming. Harnessing health data tools to ensure ease of use is vital to make rhyme or reason out of the myriad of health data points to achieve real results for a given organization. It is critical that training extends beyond functionality. Scenario-based or practice-based training will assure that a team knows not only how to access healthcare data but what actionable steps can be taken as a result of successfully reviewing and analyzing an organization's analytic data. Users need to know more than just that Outpatient PMPM has increased. It is now important to understand what factors are driving that increase. More importantly, being able to see how high-cost services, such as emergency room visits or radiology, are being utilized and determining if they are responsible for the increase in a plan's overall cost is necessary to deliver cost-effective, high-quality care. Data can then determine if certain modifiable adjustments can be made through more accurate plan design modeling and/or member education.
The issue continues to shift away from the need for health data as its importance continues to increase. Instead, the focus is on accessing the best data in the most comprehensive way. Data is becoming the key differentiator between delivering cost effective and high quality healthcare and being left behind as the industry continues to place more and more of am emphasis on health data to drive health decisions.
About the Author:Debbie Baxter is the director of Learning Solutions & Client Support at HDMS where she is responsible for developing customized health data training programs for internal and external audiences. She has been with HDMS since 2006.
