Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/821337
102 Executive Briefing HealthTrust (HealthTrust Purchasing Group, L.P.) is committed to strengthening provider performance and clin- ical excellence through an aligned membership model and the delivery of total spend management advisory solutions that leverage our operator experience, scale and innovation. Headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee, HealthTrust (www.healthtrustpg.com) serves approximately 1,600 acute care facilities and members in more than 26,000 other locations, including ambulatory surgery centers, physician practices, long-term care and alternate care sites. On Twitter @healthtrustpg. 1. Suppliers aren't required to analyze cost-effectiveness "Peer-reviewed studies and professional or regulatory guide- lines often lack the types of data healthcare organizations are looking for, which is the cost-effectiveness data that ties eco- nomic and clinical impact together," he says. The technology and products introduced in healthcare settings are largely driven by supplier reps who constantly push sur- geons toward the latest and greatest devices, says Dr. Schloss- er. Since the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does not re- quire companies to complete cost-effectiveness studies prior to product approval, suppliers place little focus on providing it. "It's up to physicians to hold suppliers responsible for demon- strating how the new technology affects the overall value of the care they deliver," Dr. Schlosser said. 2. Scientific data is not real-world data The FDA offers several pathways for products to earn approval and each requires a different level of science, says Lynn Tark- ington, RN, assistant vice president of physician and clinical services at HealthTrust. While the agency is constantly trying to innovate the way it evaluates and approves new technologies, products don't always follow the best regulatory pathways to produce valuable data for hospitals. "Sometimes clinical trials can be so scientific, they are not trans- latable to day-to-day practice," says Tarkington. "It's not always the right data to inform proper utilization where cost and reim- bursement balances out for any given technology." The FDA sometimes requires companies to conduct random- ized clinical trials, where most of the variables are controlled by researchers. However, when the product is used in a real-world setting, none of the variables are controlled and clinicians use the technology to treat patients with different conditions. So while it's necessary to study products in a controlled fashion via clinical trials, it's also important to ensure quick follow-up on data that reflects real-world practice and application, according to Marcus Dortch, PharmD, HealthTrust's senior director of clin- ical pharmacy services. 3. Data can be overwhelming Healthcare organizations must sift through mountains of data from clinical studies—as well as their own cost, reimbursement, supply chain and patient outcomes data. And the information can be in many different fashions and forms, not necessarily with a clear link from one data set to the next, says Dortch. With such high data volume and variation, it's often difficult to differentiate between what is helpful evidence for a healthcare organization and what is just clever marketing. "Some people can't distinguish between the two," he says. "And then there are people who abuse and mislead the people who confuse the two." Since data analysis can prompt as many questions as answers, hospitals must ensure they have the right talent to transform data into usable information for clinicians, whether they rely on an in-house data scientist or an external partner, says Tarkington. Harnessing the power of data GPOs can help healthcare organizations study, understand and provide high-value care by helping them measure utilization and cost data against clinical outcomes. 1. Finding the right talent. It can be challenging for hospitals to find someone with the right skills and mindset to take multiple data sets and transform them into usable information, says Tarkington. If hospitals don't want to hire one or more full-time equivalents to internally analyze the data, they can use third-party information sources that inde- pendently review the evidence and share their findings with the hospitals. Some healthcare organizations are building on their traditional relationship with GPOs by partnering with them to study clinical and financial data together to determine care value. "Since GPOs are making decisions on physician preference items and the contracting strategies for these products, it only makes sense that the end users have a central role in how those decisions are made," says Dr. Schlosser. HealthTrust's Physician Advisors Program allows GPOs and physicians from member hospitals to collaboratively examine product, financial and clin- ical data. Physicians can provide clinical feedback on contract- ed products and also help develop new ways to combine data sets, study the products and understand patient outcomes. "This is a process they should have been involved in since the beginning," says Dr. Schlosser. 2. Looking for outliers and trends. GPOs also offer large-scale registries — big selections of re- al-world data — which serve as another valuable tool for inform- ing better utilization. "Aggregating hundreds of hospitals and looking at their pur- chase data and clinical outcomes data can provide unique in- sights into which products are adding value and which are not," says Dr. Schlosser. "It's not just because of the size of the data, but because of the real-world setting those products can be used in." Large data sets can also help identify usage trends, pin- point outliers and show whether the actual patient outcomes matched the provider's expectations. Conclusion "Data is an asset to a healthcare organization, and you have to treat it as such," says Dr. Schlosser. Data analysis is crucial for hospitals to know not just the individual price of a service or item, but also to understand how much it costs and how effec- tive it is for patients. Healthcare leaders cannot have beneficial conversations with their clinicians or improve patient outcomes if they don't understand their costs, especially in the age of bundled payments. Ultimately, the hospitals that see data as an asset, rather than an overwhelming burden, will be most suc- cessful in reducing costs and achieving clinically effective and efficient care. n