The CFO, transformed

And the CFO is feeling the transformative effects of massive amounts of data, as well.

“Again, the real-time nature is a capability we did not have just a short few years ago,” Marx said. “We used to have to wait for a month-end close to understand financial performance. Today we know on a daily basis how we are performing. This allows us to fine-tune operations to ensure we hit targets. For instance, if we predict soft volumes at a specific hospital, we can proactively adjust staffing and supplies.”

With predictive capabilities, the Cleveland Clinic’s CFO can make informed decisions concerning performance with accountable care organizations or if it makes sense to take risks in other value-based contracts, he added. The CFO monitors performance daily and uses that data to predict future outcomes and make adjustments to maximize revenue while minimizing losses, he said.

Tara Matthews, deputy CIO at Einstein Healthcare in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, sums things up by showing how data has redefined the role of the entire C-suite, no exceptions.

“The entire C-suite team is looking for increased partnerships with the CIO and access to their staff,” Matthews said. “As opposed to a few years ago, when data was being parsed and distributed to the various organizations, now is the age of Big Data with complex modeling, analytics and governance.”

It’s the CIO’s role to understand what data needs to be shown in which manner and at what cadence to allow others to be effective and informed with the most up-to-date and pertinent information, she added. To that end, dashboards are frantically being created and analytic tools being leveraged in healthcare organizations throughout the country to achieve just that goal, she said.

Defining and tailoring views

“This real-time data with drill-down capability and role-based accessibility gives anyone and everyone the ability to define and tailor their views with key metrics,” she said. “Be it a CEO who is monitoring patient no-shows, patient volumes, left-without-being-seen metrics, or the COO wanting to see average length of stay, emergency room admissions or perhaps staff turnover ratios.”

And do not forget the CFO using several points of data to make financial decisions, such as days cash on hand, accounts receivable days and possibly hospital donations, she added. This intelligent use of massive data has changed the makeup of how the C-suite members view the organization and make decisions, she said, and it’s dramatically shifted focus from reactionary to more proactive measures to influence smarter decisions with better results.

“Finally, Big Data has helped the C-suite members redefine their roles as strategic influencers,” Matthews concluded. “They are leveraging the business intelligence tools to support major organizational goals, set priorities for future direction and communicate effectively. This has provided increased satisfaction, growth opportunities, industry recognition and overall a big success.”

Twitter: @SiwickiHealthIT
Email the writer: bill.siwicki@himssmedia.com