Healthcare

Manage resources to deliver optimal care

The top priority worldwide for organisations involved in healthcare is ensuring that proper care is delivered wherever and whenever it is needed. Rapidly increasing costs, however, have placed a renewed emphasis on seeing that care is delivered efficiently while maintaining high levels of quality.
SPSS, an IBM Company, has a long history of providing support to healthcare organisations. Our solutions include statistical, data mining, text mining and Web mining tools; business intelligence and reporting software; and survey research products. Used separately or together, they enable organisations to:
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Support medical research Improve disease management Monitor the quality of patient care Improve operational efficiency Maintain accreditation Combat healthcare fraud Protect public health.

IBM SPSS software solutions are well suited to healthcare applications. Our solutions use open architectures, enabling healthcare providers to access and analyse data from a wide variety of sources, and deliver results in a variety of ways. Because healthcare organisations must often process large volumes of data, we offer solutions that are highly scalable. Our survey research solutions meet many statutory requirements, as well as public and private healthcare organisations stringent hardware and firewall specifications.

Supporting medical research Medical research generates massive amounts of data. Individuals and institutions involved in research rely on IBM SPSS solutions to efficiently manage data collection, analysis and reporting so they can spend more time on the research itself.

For example, the Wesley Research Institute (WRI), located in Brisbane, Australia, relies on IBM SPSS predictive analytics to improve the quality, safety and clinical outcomes of patient care at The Wesley Hospital. Surgeons, cardiologists, and other members of the clinical team use IBM SPSS Data Collection software to support the Institutes cardiac surgery and coronary research programme. Employing the software for every phase of the research process from design through to reporting of results provides researchers with timely, relevant data that leads to faster, more accurate diagnoses.

At Japan Red Cross Musashino Hospital, known for its leading-edge treatment of liver disorders, researchers sought to improve the hepatitis C cure rate by more accurately determining the most effective type of treatment for each patient. An IBM SPSS data mining solution helped doctors correlate patient factors such as body type, age and gender with the best treatment method, resulting in more personalised care and improved patient outcomes.

Concern over costs

Healthcare costs are expected to continue rising, even though in many countries they already represent a significant share of gross domestic product (GDP). Share of GDP spent on healthcare United States France Germany Belgium Austria Canada Denmark Sweden Australia Spain Japan United Kingdom Luxembourg 15.2% 11.1% 10.7% 10.6% 10.3% 9.9% 9.5% 9.2% 8.8% 8.3% 8.2% 8.2% 7.8%

Improving disease management Leading hospitals, clinics and individual doctors use clinical expertise and the best available external evidence to guide treatment recommendations. IBM SPSS solutions help providers increase their awareness of the relevant evidence and evaluate the strength of that evidence so they can work with their patients to choose the most appropriate treatment options.

A study done at Londons St. Georges Hospital NHS Trust is typical of many that shed light on the effectiveness of medical treatments. Using IBM SPSS statistical software, the study evaluated more than 14,000 admissions to 14 different hospitals during a nine-year period. It found that there was a higher mortality risk when certain types of patients were moved out of intensive care units rather than kept there longer. This helped the hospital choose the most effective treatment options for its patients, and provided guidelines to other hospitals with similar patient populations.

Source: OECD Health Data 2008. Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development, 2008

IBM SPSS solutions also give organisations the tools to identify patterns in patient care that are likely to result in favorable outcomes. In this way, they can determine the most cost-effective therapeutic approaches and treatment protocols to improve patient outcomes and minimise the need for expensive emergency interventions.

In addition, IBM SPSS survey research tools are used by healthcare organisations to monitor variable types of feedback. For example, a hospital or clinic can continually track community or government support for its outreach programmes and initiatives. The software can also be used to monitor doctors and staff job satisfaction and loyalty important factors in managing valuable

Monitoring quality of care Keeping patients happy by listening and being attentive to their needs is a critical component of healthcare delivery. Statistical software from IBM SPSS software aids healthcare organisations in understanding and acting upon variables that affect patients satisfaction with the care they receive.

human resources.

Improving operational efficiency IBM SPSS solutions also help private sector organisations, such as health insurers, improve efficiencies and obtain the competitive advantage they need.

Maintaining accreditation Dr. Erik Kulstad, Research Director of the Advocate Christ Medical Center Department of Emergency Medicine near Chicago, Illinois, completed a study evaluating the effects of emergency department overcrowding on patient satisfaction. The study demonstrated that two factors hallway use and prolonged boarding time were associated with failure to meet satisfaction goals. These findings played a key role in the development of a successful proposal to expand the emergency departments space and resources. In addition to helping providers evaluate treatment effectiveness and maintain high levels of patient-care quality, IBM SPSS software enables them to meet accreditation requirements such as those established by the US Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organisations (JCAHO) and similar accrediting bodies worldwide.

To comply with quality-control legislation in the Netherlands, for example, the Hospital of Walcheren chose the IBM SPSS suite of market research tools. Not only did this solution improve staff efficiency in processing patient questionnaires, it also uncovered some unmet patient needs. By quickly addressing those needs, the hospital improved patient satisfaction and met regulatory requirements.

Another way in which IBM SPSS solutions can be used is in syndromic surveillance. This is a process that requires agencies to analyse health data (stripped of any personal identification), to discover patterns and associations that suggest the presence of a certain syndrome and the need for a public health response. Because data comes from many different sources emergency room admissions records, pharmacy sales records, and public safety incident reports,

Protecting public health Public health departments function as monitors, researchers and educators. Their staff must watch trends both locally and across borders in both communicable diseases such as influenza and chronic conditions such as diabetes. They must understand the causes behind the trends, and they must provide healthcare providers and the public with guidance both in emergency situations, such as the H1N1 flu outbreak in early 2009, and on an ongoing basis.

among others it is essential that solutions be interoperable and efficiently use computing resources.

Meeting new challenges The cost of healthcare will continue to be a concern, particularly in industrialised nations as older people who require more healthcare resources comprise a higher proportion of the population.

One way to curb costs is to cut down on the amount of The open architectures and advanced features of IBM SPSS solutions make them ideally suited to helping public health agencies and organisations. When surveying the public about their knowledge of and attitudes toward certain health-related topics, IBM SPSS solutions protect individual privacy while making it easy for agencies to collect information through a variety of cost-effective channels. The increased use of the Web offers opportunities for improved communication among all parties involved in healthcare. Consumers use the Web to research medical conditions, treatments and caregivers, and to purchase medications, while doctors and other healthcare providers increasingly communicate with each other electronically. paper-handling involved in every phase of healthcare, from visiting the doctor to picking up prescriptions: there is also a trend toward computerising doctors orders and electronic medical records.

As well, many healthcare organisations give patients the ability to access information online, and in this area, IBM SPSSs Web mining solution can assist organisations, since it provides a clear picture of who is visiting a site, when they are visiting it, and what they do there.

For medical researchers and public health officials, the trend toward digitising healthcare information offers exciting opportunities. More data than ever before will be available some of it data that could not previously be analysed, such as doctors and nurses textual notes. IBM SPSS text mining can help researchers and others uncover hidden associations in this new source of data, adding to

Predictive analytics for healthcare

Our solutions for healthcare can be found at:
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the accuracy of current predictive models.

The top 12 FORTUNE Global 500 pharmaceutical companies* Four of the top five FORTUNE Global 500 insurance and managed care companies* Two of the top three FORTUNE Global 500 pharmacies and other services* Five of the top seven FORTUNE 500 medical facilities** Many regional and national healthcare agencies, including those serving densely populated areas Medical researchers at numerous universities and public health agencies, including those conducting research on genomics and other groundbreaking therapies Leading medical associations and charitable organisations.

Technology to play a key role Numerous studies show that healthcare organisations increasingly recognise that information technology improves their ability to operate more efficiently and deliver the quality of care that is required. Technology analyst Gartner Inc. projects worldwide IT spending on hardware, software, and services by healthcare organisations to grow at a compound average growth rate of 5.0 percent a year through 2012. (Source: Dataquest Alert: Utilities, Healthcare and Government Lead IT Spending Growth in Challenging 2009, ID Number: G00165289, February 10, 2009)

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Our company is committed to continuing to provide healthcare organisations with the powerful yet flexible predictive analytics solutions they need in order to carry out their vitally important missions.

* Statistics based on companies that purchased IBM SPSS software; top companies are as published by Fortune in its 2008 Global 500 list. ** Statistic based on companies that purchased IBM SPSS software; top companies are as published by Fortune in its 2008 500 list.

For more information on IBM SPSS solutions, visit www.spss.com/uk or call your local IBM SPSS office.

About SPSS, an IBM Company SPSS, an IBM Company, is a leading global provider of predictive analytics software and solutions. The companys complete portfolio of products data collection, statistics, modeling and deployment captures peoples attitudes and opinions, predicts outcomes of future customer interactions, and then acts on these insights by embedding analytics into business processes. IBM SPSS solutions address interconnected business objectives across an entire organization by focusing on the convergence of analytics, IT architecture and business process. Commercial, government and academic customers worldwide rely on IBM SPSS technology as a competitive advantage in attracting, retaining and growing customers, while reducing fraud and mitigating risk. SPSS was acquired by IBM in October 2009. For more information, visit www.spss.com.

To learn more, please visit www.spss.com/uk or phone 0845 345 0935.

SPSS is a registered trademark and the other SPSS products named are trademarks of SPSS Inc., an IBM Company. 2009 SPSS Inc., an IBM Company. All rights reserved. HCIB-1109-UK