BALTIMORE – An effective information governance program can bring both tangible and intangible return on investment for healthcare providers – and often the latter is much more valuable than the former.

And HIM professionals should strive to convince their C-suite of the importance of IG against both types of ROI, said Mary Reeves, an information governance and health information management consultant, at the AHIMA Convention and Exhibit in Baltimore on Oct. 17.

While executives will likely be most swayed by the promise of dollars-and-cents savings, a key and lasting benefit of better information management is not so easy to quantify. 

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There are 10 key domains of information governance, which is distinct from and more inclusive than data governance – encompassing the management of digital data, paper-based info and more.

* IG structure (Who's in charge? More and more organizations are using a new C-suite title, Reeves noted: the CIGO.)
* Strategic alignment ("IG programs must demonstrate value to be sustainable," she said.)
* Privacy and security
* Legal and regulatory (This entails risk management, compliance, etc.)
* Data governance (A sub-domain of IG, this focuses on data quality and integrity.)
* IT governance
* Analytics ("If you do not have quality data, you will not have robust analytics," said Reeves)
* IG performance
* Enterprise information management
* Awareness and adherence (Educating the workforce about the value of information.)

When it comes to convincing executives of the need for an IG program, "clear ROI for each project must be identified," Reeves said.

While tangible gains such as a $500,000 reduction in offsite data storage costs are nice to have, of course, much of the value of IG is subjective and not easily documented.

"More than 25 percent of the value of any enterprise is contributed by intangible assets" such as intellectual property and reputation, said Reeves. "Information is not always recognized as strategic asset."

But that's exactly what it is – and smart organizations will see the value in optimizing the ways they manage it.

"Information is an asset, just like building, equipment, staff and full-time employees,” Reeves explained the worth of an IG program stems for protecing and leveraging it as such.

By ensuring trusted and reliable information, healthcare organizations can enable more timely and accurate data, with faster access to it for more nimble decision-making, she said.

Reeves offered advice on how to highlight IG's value – tangible and intangible – to the C-suite.

Spiraling e-discovery costs, for instance, where evidence gatherers in malpractice suits must  sift through electronic data, paper records, different legacy systems from acquired practices are a common problem. An enterprise-wide IG policy, alongside process improvement initiatives, could reduce both risk and cost, she said.

Better IG can help reduce the risk of data breaches, with sound security plans, mobile device management policies and workforce awareness all contributing to better security.

Storage is another area ripe for ROI. According to IBM, data will double every 73 days by 2020, Reeves pointed out, noting that 69 percent of information has no legal, business or regulatory value.

"Unused data becomes a liability," she said.

Then there are more patient-focused gains to be had from sound information: population health management and care coordination, a blueprint of population based on risk and cost, aggregated data from multiple sources, the ability to identify at-risk patients and direct resources appropriately, the safer use of health IT, with better data helping reduce medical errors.

IG enables actionable real-time analytics to drive clinical and financial results, she said, paving the way for more accurate, timely and consistent decision making.

As they embrace those principles, Reeves said healthcare organizations would do well to consult with AHIMA's IG Maturity and Adoption Model. And she cited a quote from AHIMA Chief Innovation Officer Deborah Green that spotlighted a different sort of ROI:

"As organizations move up the IG maturity curve, they increase their ability to trust their data and information, minimize risk and make critical decisions confidently," said Green. "We like to call this, in IG terms, return on information." 

Twitter: @MikeMiliardHITN
Email the writer: mike.miliard@himssmedia.com

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