i~HD was present at EAHM 2019 Congress in Ghent, Belgium
i~HD at EAHM2019
EAHM Congress 2019: big data a key success factor for innovation but what about quality?
The 2019 edition of the EAHM Congress (European Association of Hospital Managers) took place in Ghent, September 11 – 14. It was very much an interactive happening with visits to six hospitals complementing the presentations on offer at the main conference site of the prestigious Ghelamco Arena. The umbrella theme was labelled as ‘sharing innovative healthcare strategies’. i~HD was present with a session on the reuse of Electronic Health Records for Learning Health Systems.
The gathering of more than 450 European hospital managers gave us the opportunity to capture their viewpoints on health data and gain insight into the latest uses of data. Throughout the presentations and personal conversations, big data turned out to be a key success factor for innovation.
Given the medical, operational and strategic decision-supporting uses of data, the apparent lack of initiatives in the field of data quality reinforces our stand that more attention to the quality of data is pivotal for the delivery of even safer and more effective patient care.
We are happy to highlight some of the interesting projects and quotes related to the use of health data.
Opening session Wednesday afternoon: EAHM Innovation Awards 2019
During the first get together on Wednesday night, three speakers were called on stage to present their projects in the running for the EAHM Innovation Award 2019. Two of the three speakers presented projects in which health data played a crucial part.
AZ Maria Middelares, a Belgian 542-bed acute care hospital, managed to obtain an impressive 80% reduction in the number of resuscitations thanks to the introduction of new health technology for measuring vital parameters linked to data analysis and automated alerting. (From 2,5 million data points to an 80% reduction in the number of resuscitations in a 542-bed acute care hospital.)
Furthermore, they continue to finetune and innovate the data collection process e.g. by introducing automated vital sign monitoring equipment and a new wearable sensor to collect the more than 2,5 million data points that are transferred automatically into the electronic medical record. (Impact of vital sign data collection technology on data quality and patient experience)
The Greek project described the first Risk Share Agreement (RSA) between a hospital and a healthcare technology provider in Greece. The uniqueness of the project may have been the risk sharing; what we remember is how this project gave the participants the opportunity to gain insight in their data and how they could use those data in order to measure and improve outcomes for patients with cardiac diseases. (Risk share agreement as a management tool for improving patient outcomes in healthcare systems under financial pressure)
In the end, the award was attributed to the EOC group located in the city of Lugano which abandoned inefficient transport by taxis for transferring blood samples from one hospital site to another. Instead, they started to use autonomous drones. A rightful winner which couldn’t have been successful without geographical data but let’s say these are somewhat easier to manage than complex patient data. (Drones in action for public health)
Official inauguration Thursday morning
On Thursday morning we were welcomed by Mr. Danny Havenith, congress chair, and Prof. Dr. Eric Mortier, CEO Ghent University Hospital, who set the tone: “Big data, data mining and risk prediction are themes hospital managers have to address”.
"Data has the same value as a new drug"
Dr. Paul Stoffels, Vice Chairman & Chief Scientific Officer – Johnson & Johnson, delighted us by quoting that data and Artificial Intelligence offer great opportunities to transform the healthcare sector. One study he personally conducted led him to say that data has the same value as a new drug! But data will only break through if it gets the attention it deserves. In a final quote, he projects a future where a unique lifesaving decision will be taken for each individual patient on the basis of his own data.
The second keynote speech was delivered by Prof. Dr. Eugene Fidelis Soh, CEO TTSH and Central Health, Chairman CHI Co-Learning Network. He distinguished himself by his clear vision of the major challenges to improving patient outcomes and hospital efficiency in the face of rising population health needs, and by making it happen! It’s not only about shifting mindsets but progressing at a considerable pace by putting theories into practice.
In the field of data, his team has developed their C3 smart hospital system (Command, Control, Communications) to try and make sense of all data to optimise flows and support care workers. They strive for data to be the foundation of standard procedures for 80% of all decisions to be taken.
"Data as the foundation of 80% of all decisions to be taken."
Thursday afternoon and Friday morning, EAHM participants had the choice to visit 2 of the 6 hospitals which had developed themes ranging from big data over healing environments to innovation and technology.
Academic session Friday afternoon
Prof. Dr. Gregory Katz, Chair of Innovation & Value in Health, University of Paris Medical School, Director General, Consortium VBHC France, focused this talk on “Valuing Health Outcomes: the Power of Transparency”.
"You wouldn’t go to a bank just because other people say it’s a good bank. Why do we do so when it comes to our healthcare?"
He underlined the importance of data recording and comparing in order to optimise patient outcome and patient satisfaction. This is not just a win for patients but also a dual win for the hospital as to cost structure and hospital reputation. The use of PROMs (Patient Reported Outcome Measures) will prove the strength of value based healthcare rather than volume based healthcare. It is important to raise awareness that this is not an instrument to separate the good from the bad but to learn from each other’s procedures to provide the patient with the best healthcare possible. "Transparency is key to accelerate best outcomes, improve reputation, patient and talents attractiveness".
i~HD session
During the EAHM presentations, it was clearly stated that data is an important part of innovative healthcare strategies, but in the discussion, there is still room for data quality and improvement strategies. i~HD’s vision is to help hospitals to get better data.
Prof. Dipak Kalra, president of i~HD, took the honour of opening our very interactive session. He pointed out that we are at a crucial intersection in our ecosystem where individualised data meets big data, which requires a major paradigm shift.
Prof. Dipak Kalra was joined by Prof. Pascal Coorevits, Professor, Ghent University, Vice President for Research, The EuroRec Institute, Bart Vannieuwenhuyse, Senior Director of Health Information Sciences, Janssen, and Brecht Claerhout, Managing Director, Europe at TriNetX, Inc.
The speakers responded to questions hospital managers struggle with in their daily experience. The topics that were cited include how to motivate people, both the general public as well as clinicians, to share data. To have a sustained effect, the best approach is to demonstrate the value of data analysis by means of real-life examples and benefits and to show how we can turn data into insights, smarter behaviour and better outcomes.
The general public is still unsure about the safety of their personal health data, so we need to insist that GDPR is effective and that the protection of the public’s data is guaranteed.
The participants concluded that a change of cultural mindset is essential to improve healthcare and to speed up research. The data collected is still very much focused on one purpose, people very often don’t see data as a reusable asset.
Measuring is knowing. It is great to have data. It would be greater to have great data! We therefore invite you to have a look at the i~HD initiatives to enhance care through health data.