Business Intelligence & Data Warehousing for Healthcare

Healthcare organizations have historically struggled to find the elusive link between the investment in information technology and improved organizational performance. At least a portion of this gap has been driven by the focus on the implementation of information technology (IT) solutions to support transactional workflow with little to no attention paid to how people actually use the information contained in these solutions to make decisions. The strategic value of IT lies in its power to provide clinicians and leadership with direct visibility into the care delivery process. When little or no attention is given to the strategic use of information as part of an electronic health record (EHR)implementation, organizations are often disappointed by the return on investment and value received as a result of the significant investment.

One solution to help close this gap is in the implementation of Business Intelligence and Data Warehousing. David Loshin defined Business Intelligence as "the processes, technologies, and tools needed to turn data into information, information into knowledge, and knowledge into plans that drive profitable business actions." Examples of Business Intelligence applications include the following:

• Clinical and Financial Analytics and Decision Support
• Executive Information Systems
• Online Analytical Processing (OLAP)
• Query and Reporting Tools
• Data Mining
• Business Process Monitoring
• Online Scoreboards and Dashboards