Data-Driven Innovation (DDI) benefits all sectors of our economy, increases efficiency, saves money and resources, and improves quality of life. From safety and security, to the environment and infrastructure, to health and education, the opportunities for DDI to improve our lives are boundless. In SIIA’s recent whitepaper, Data-Driven Innovation A Guide for Policymakers: Understanding and Enabling the Economic and Social Value of Data, we explored the ways our member companies are leveraging data to provide cutting edge solutions. Here’s one case study, from Scripps Health.
Scripps Health, a nonprofit community health system, innovative and patient-focused process that has virtually eliminated wait times and has changed the way the hospital delivers care to patients seeking treatment in the emergency department at multiple campuses. Scripps is changing its culture from one in which quality is measured almost entirely by the performance of physicians, to one in which quality is measured by the performance of the processes, systems and teams that support them. They don’t want physicians to be exclusively responsible for quality, but for quality to be measured by the team.
To inform its approach to these changes, Scripps collected and analyzed variation data, or information about whether a particular process was in control. For example, in anticipation of re-engineering its emergency room procedures, Scripps collected and analyzed massive amounts of data on wait times and cross-referenced the information against the type of injury, tests that were ordered and how long it took to discharge the patient. Then they did extensive simulation of our processes using real-life data, modeling how new and different processes might work.
Scripps found that the triage process added an unnecessary and wasteful step in getting patients from the door to a doctor. It was adding time and cost to the system, and not adding significant value. So the company eliminated it. They reduced the critical door-to-doctor time, add capacity to our emergency rooms and improve the quality of our service. As they build a new hospital, Scripps Health is looking into whether they even need to build a waiting room in the ER.