Insight

MEDIA REVIEW insight Analytics L Got EADING COMPANIES IN every fi eld (from FedEx to the Boston Red Sox) have one thing in common—they collect information about their consumers and then use quantitative and statistical analysis to remold their competitive strategies. BECOMING AN ANALYTICAL COMPETITOR The fi rst step in helping your hospital compete on analytics? Choose a strategic focus. Once you've decided how your hospital wants to distinguish itself in the market and what data truly matters, assess whether your facility has the insight, culture, data, and employees in place to support an analytics mission. How you proceed in competing in analytics varies depending on your hospital's current capabilities. Davenport and Harris offer road maps based on fi ve stages of analytic development: 1 3 5 22 insightonhealthcare.com ANALYTICALLY IMPAIRED—HOSPITALS IN THIS CATEGORY WOULD HAVE SOME DATA AND AN INTEREST IN ANALYTICS. LOCALIZED ANALYTICS—IN THIS CATEGORY, THERE IS MOVEMENT TOWARD MAKING ANALYTICALLY BASED DECISIONS, BUT SUCH DECISIONS TEND TO BE DISCONNECTED. ANALYTICAL ASPIRATIONS—HOSPITALS WITH ANALYTICAL ASPIRATIONS HAVE SEVERAL ANALYTIC PROCESSES AND ARE BUILDING A SYSTEMWIDE ANALYTICS PLAN. ANALYTICAL COMPANIES—AT THIS STAGE, ANALYTIC PROCESSES ARE EMBEDDED INTO THE HOSPITAL'S CULTURE. THERE ARE SOME SKILLED ANALYTICS EMPLOYEES, BUT THEY AREN'T NECESSARILY WORKING TOGETHER STRATEGICALLY. ANALYTICAL COMPETITION—ALL EMPLOYEES ARE ENGAGED AT SOME LEVEL IN ANALYTICS, WITH AT LEAST A MARGINAL KNOWLEDGE OF DATA AND HOW IT IS BEING UTILIZED. ORGANIZATIONS AT THIS LEVEL ARE REAPING THE BENEFITS OF A SYSTEMWIDE FOCUS ON ANALYTICS AND RETURN ON INVESTEMENT FROM DATA ANALYSIS. So, data is the new oil. But how can you put your hospital's data to work for your marketing strategy? In Competing on Analytics: The New Science of Winning, Thomas Davenport and Jeanne Harris offer insight into why data matters and how you can use it to your advantage. The road maps laid out 2 4 by the authors encompass a variety of strategies, including organizational, human, and technological elements. In order to effectively execute an analytical model, companies must redesign their processes to become more data-driven (organizational), obtain leadership buy-in and build employee skills (human), and ensure they are gathering quality data (technology). In each category, the authors provide suggestions on enhancing your analytic structure—ranging from establishing a functional manager for your program within the hospital to implementing a localized project that will produce tangible results. Regardless of your hospital's current level of analytic integration, Competing on Analytics: The New Science of Winning—and a follow-up book, Analytics at Work: Smarter Decisions, Better Results—offer a strategic look at the next steps in becoming an analytical competitor. ?

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