By Kyle Murphy, PhD

September 16, 2015 - Despite significant interest in leveraging healthcare analytics, few healthcare organizations have the necessary strategy for blending financial, operational, clinical, and other data effectively, according to a recent Deloitte Center for Health Solutions survey.

Comprising responses from CIOs, CMIOs, and senior leaders from 50 health systems, the survey also finds healthcare data analytics adoption and spending falling short of industry predictions despite support for leveraging these emerging technologies for value-based care.

"As the shift from fee-for-service (FFS) payment models to VBC continues — including Medicare’s plans for increased value-based payments by 2018 — organizations will need to blend financial, operational, clinical, and other data to achieve their goals of improving quality, providing access, controlling cost, and managing provider networks," the report states. "A fragmented analytics strategy will not support effective integration of such data."

Overall, few health systems were capable of making use of healthcare analytics. According to Deloitte, less than half of respondents had a "clear, integrated analytics strategy"; one-quarter lacked an appropriate data governance model; one-third were unaware of their organization's spending on healthcare analytics; and one-fifth currently employed a decentralized model for healthcare analytics.