The CFO s Role in an Enterprise Data Warehouse Rollout

Transcription

1 Search the Site or Browse by Topic My Account JOIN EDUCATION PUBLICATIONS FORUMS CAREERS MARKETPLACE INDUSTRY INITIATIVES CFO FORUM ARTICLES TOOLS ASK THE EXPERTS LISTSERV FORUM DIRECTORY NEWS COLLECTION SERVICE NETWORKING EVENTS JOIN The CFO s Role in an Enterprise Data Warehouse Rollout L A U R A R A M O S H E G W E R RELIABLE, ACTIONABLE DATA IS A STRATEGIC ASSET, AND HEALTHCARE FINANCE LEADERS NEED TO HELP THEIR ORGANIZATIONS IMPLEMENT DATA STORAGE AND ANALYTICS TOOLS AND TECHNOLOGIES. As more hospitals and health systems take on more risk through value-based payment models, many are implementing enterprise data warehouses (EDWs) to help them leverage their clinical, financial, and operational data (see the exhibit below). 1 of 5 12/4/14 3:56 PM

2 An EDW allows you to integrate various sources of data and perform predictive analyses to find critical answers that will reduce costs, increase revenue, and ultimately lead to improved patient care, says Jyoti Kamal, PhD, chief data strategist at Health Care DataWorks, Columbus, Ohio. With an EDW and predictive analytics tools, an organization can execute what if scenarios to determine how improving specific performance measures will improve their bottom line. According to Kamal, EDWs that are combined with business intelligence tools can help organizations answer key business questions related to value-based payment, including the following: How much are penalties from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) affecting the organization s bottom line? Which departments, physicians, and service lines are performing well and which are performing poorly? How much revenue is at risk due to poor performance? And what can be gained through improved performance? Which performance improvement initiatives should be a priority for the organization? Which value-based payment metrics will yield the most improvement in the organization s total performance score and resulting reimbursement? HFMA BUSINESS PROFILES Opportunities to Consider When an organization implements an EDW as the basis for its analytics platform, the CFO should identify opportunities to use the technology to better understand issues with operations, quality of patient care, and financial performance. It is vital to have a good grasp of what the needs are and be able to demonstrate the importance of the EDW in a short amount of time so that the staff realizes the value of the initiative quickly, Kamal says. Rolling out an EDW requires careful project planning, staffing adjustments, and cross-functional collaboration. The CFO should assist these efforts early on by securing buy-in among other leaders within the organization. Finance leaders also should become active members of the organization s data governance committee, which should be launched along with the EDW if it is not already in place. A data governance committee ensures the integrity of data by developing policies and procedures to help maintain a single source of truth for data across the organization. Rather than focusing on finance alone, the CFO can help other leaders understand the strategic applications of the EDW and business intelligence tools, Kamal says. The CFO should see beyond the financial data to the clinical data and also to the patient experience. In other words, the CFO 2 of 5 12/4/14 3:56 PM

3 must look at the EDW as an organizational asset. Questions to Ask When rolling out an enterprise data warehouse (EDW), CFOs should take active roles during the planning process. An EDW is utilized across the entire organization, so everyone has to view the EDW as a project in which they have a stake, says Kamal. When planning an EDW implementation, Kamal recommends asking the following questions: Do I have the right staff on the EDW planning committee? Does the committee include an experienced project planner? As a finance leader, have I built an effective relationship with the IT department? Do I have buy-in from other users, including key staff and C-suite executives? Do I have visibility and transparency into the project so that all stakeholders are in the loop? At the beginning of an EDW implementation, some staff may be skeptical and may slow down the process, Kamal says. But CFOs can help move this along by explaining the benefits of an EDW and how it is critical to an organization s mission. According to Kamal, Once the staff sees the benefit of the EDW and how it can even make their jobs easier, most will come on board. Laura Ramos Hegwer is a freelance writer and editor based in Lake Bluff, Ill. Interviewed for this article: Jyoti Kamal, PhD, chief data strategist at Health Care DataWorks, Columbus, Ohio. Discussion Starters What have been your biggest challenges in rolling out an EDW? How can finance leaders communicate more effectively with IT teams? Any lessons learned? What are the limitations of EDWs? Publication Date: Tuesday, November 18, 2014 C ommeenttss 3 of 5 12/4/14 3:56 PM

4 A D D C O M M E NTT Text Only 2000 character limit Add Comment ADVERTISEMENTS Learn how VHA helped INTEGRIS Health transform their supply chain operations to enable permanent performance improvement. Technology investments cost money. Find the funds in your existing budget with ActionOI. A new perspective on healthcare transformation four imperatives. Improve Your Payer Mix and Growth Opportunities With PARA s Out of Pocket Estimator Widget. The Claro Group brings clarity to the complex issues facing health systems and hospitals today. Providing Agile Performance Visibility for an Era of Change ADVERTISING SOLUTIONS SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES CHAPTER LEADERS FIND A CHAPTER NEWS MEDIA ABOUT HFMA TERMS OF USE CONTACT US SIGN IN SIGN OUT MY ACCOUNT BUYER'S RESOURCE GUIDE NEWSLETTER 2014 Copyright Healthcare Financial Management Association 4 of 5 12/4/14 3:56 PM

5 5 of 5 12/4/14 3:56 PM