According to the World Health Organization, as many as one in ten patients in developed countries is actually harmed while receiving hospital care. The organization also finds that additional hospitalization, litigation costs, infections acquired in hospitals, lost income, disability and medical expenses have cost some countries between US$ 6 billion and US$ 29 billion a year.

Causes of these ailments include inefficiency and misaligned incentives. Money does not buy quality. There is too little patient involvement in our disease-centered world.

While healthcare organizations are amassing vast amounts of data, multiple versions of the truth producing errors in hospital, patient care and payment processes. Physicians have been on information overload for decades, contributing to the estimated 15% of diagnoses that are inaccurate or incomplete (Harvard Business Review, April, 2010). We don't understand why medicine works for one patient but not another. And growing shortages of nurses and medical specialists put more strain on broken systems. But rather than focus on what is wrong with healthcare, let's imagine how information insights—coupled with clinical collaboration—can dramatically improve quality of care, patient safety and outcomes, while also improving the cost-effectiveness of care.

The smarter approach to healthcare is one that turns data into clinical and business insights for better outcomes. It instruments processes with those insights in real time for point of care decisions and productivity. And hospitals, medical centers and clinicians can work smarter by bringing seamless, patient-centered, holistic and proactive approaches into their interactions with a patient, to deliver better care experiences that emphasize prevention and wellness.

Forward-thinking organizations are connecting their healthcare data, systems and processes to facilitate secure communications and information sharing. The IBM Institute for Business Insights provides proven return on investment for such iniatives. Taking this step can help establish the foundation for smarter healthcare systems that seamlessly deliver integrated care, centered on the patient.

more information:
IBM Smarter Healthcare Planet