Market insights from HIMSS and Arcadia uncover data analytics priorities, opportunities, and challenges for health systems

A report released today by Arcadia (Arcadia.io), a leading data analytics platform for healthcare, found that less than 60% of healthcare organizations' data is being used to make intelligent business decisions.¹ However, more than 9-in-10 healthcare leaders agree that access to quality data across all platforms and workflows is critical to an organization's performance.¹

"Data must be high-quality, accurate, and free flowing for health systems to trust and utilize data to guide decision-making," said Kate Behan, MD, FACP, Chief Medical Officer at Arcadia. "It's equally critical that analytics synthetize data into useful information and actions to deliver quality care that improves patient outcomes."

The insights come from a pulse survey on the current state of healthcare analytics platforms conducted by the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) and Arcadia. Additional findings on data utilization within hospitals and health systems from executive, technology, and clinical leaders include:

• A growing demand for healthcare data: Approximately 30% of the world's data volume is generated by the healthcare industry, with the compound annual growth rate of healthcare data forecasted to reach 36% by 2025.² To better manage and act on data, a quarter of healthcare leaders have plans to integrate care team communications and population health management solutions within the next 12 months.¹
• Challenges hinder technological advancement: The most significant barrier healthcare leaders face when investing in or upgrading an analytics platform is resources. 71% cite competing priorities, 58% point to staffing challenges, and 47% said they don't have sufficient budget.¹
• Views vary on artificial intelligence (AI): Nearly 30% of healthcare leaders said they've already implemented AI, with roughly 60% planning to implement such technology in the next 12-24 months or more.¹ A small percentage (13%) don't plan to implement AI at all.¹ C-suite leaders are more likely to have plans to implement AI within the next 12 months (30%) compared to those in other leadership positions (7%).¹

"Unlocking big data is critical for the healthcare industry to achieve transformation," said Michael Meucci, Arcadia President and CEO. "While the findings show that healthcare leaders grasp the importance of high-quality data, significant opportunity remains for the industry to routinely leverage data and technology to improve care delivery."