Joel Arun Sursas Discusses How Health Data Can Improve Patient Outcomes
Nurse Discussing Records With Senior Female Patient During Home Visit
Understanding the data surrounding a patient’s medical history can help improve their overall quality of care and guide future treatment plans. While this data is invaluable, larger data pools can also improve the quality of care even further. Below, Dr. Joel Arun Sursas sheds light on how health data can improve patient outcomes.
The Importance of Data Analysis
Understanding the data your practice generates is an excellent way to improve the overall quality of care. Having everything you need to know on one screen or data log can help analysts identify care trends, note any outliers, and make recommendations for future care plans as seen on https://www.sgklawyers.com/Medical-Malpractice/
It also allows practitioners to link trends regarding medication interactions, for instance, to patient data within their practice. This alone dramatically increases the quality of patient outcomes[1] and improves their received level of care.
This data can also be used to control infectious diseases, note common errors within a practice, and catch common mistakes. For example, suppose an employee is often making the same errors. In that case, this issue can be identified by referencing the data and fixed on an as-needed basis, ensuring patients and clients[2] are receiving the care they deserve.
Conveying Patient Data
One option that has become very popular within recent years is the use of Robotics Process Automation (RBA) to assist in collecting patient data and relaying messages to both patients and care providers. When working with patients, there is always the chance that someone may not be able to quickly relay information to other medical professionals due to a language barrier. Additionally, there is the concern that those who do not have access to quality healthcare may fall to the wayside.
Having an RPA system to record biometrics, patient health data, and monitor of at-risk patients could help them get the care they need even if they cannot meet with doctors or adequately communicate their symptoms. A simple questionnaire about their symptoms could help direct them to the right medical facility or guide them through simple at-home treatments if the case is not severe enough to warrant an office visit.
This could prove to be a lifesaving piece of equipment, especially if it can catch those who typically slip through the cracks. The percentage of Americans who are often unheard could get the healthcare they need much more easily[3].
It could also be more affordable as it would eliminate the need to hire additional staff. This, in turn, could potentially cut patient expenses.
Communication Ease
Having health data on hand can also make it easier for health care providers to share information with specialists and monitor which specialists best serve patients. This can help providers make informed decisions about where to refer patients and what they may need when looking for a specialist.
Having access to records and reports on local offices and specialists could provide a very beneficial set of controlled data, especially if there are potential issues in the care provided through affiliated groups.
In all, these are just a few things that health data can do to assist medical practitioners in better serving their patients. There are many more, and there will likely be even more beneficial aspects that arise as the way we process and collect data evolves. If Joel Arun Sursas is correct in his assumptions, it is clear that health data is the key to obtaining better outcomes for patients of all types.
About Joel Arun Sursas:
Joel Arun Sursas holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Medicine and Bachelor’s Degree in Surgery from the National University of Singapore and is continuing his education to obtain a Certificate in Safety, Quality, Informatics and Leadership from the Harvard Medical School, and Masters in Applied Health Science Informatics from the Johns Hopkins University (both expected in 2020). His technical skills include SPSS, RevMan, and Python. Dr. Joel Arun Sursas’ most recent engagement is with a medical device start-up company Biorithm where he serves as Head of Clinical Affairs, working to take fetal surveillance out of the hospital and into the home, revolutionizing the obstetric practice globally.
References
1. Lie, Désirée A. “Does Cultural Competency Training of Health Professionals Improve Patient Outcomes? A Systematic Review and Proposed Algorithm for Future Research | SpringerLink.” Journal of General Internal Medicine, 16AD, https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%252Fs11606-010-1529-0.
2. Coravos, Andrea. “Developing and Adopting Safe and Effective Digital Biomarkers to Improve Patient Outcomes | Npj Digital Medicine.” Npj Digital Medicine, Springer Nature, 11AD, https://www.nature.com/articles/s41746-019-0090-4.
3. “[PDF] Does Continuity of Care Improve Patient Outcomes? | Semantic Scholar.” Semantic Scholar | AI-Powered Research Tool, https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Does-continuity-of-care-improve-patient-outcomes-Cabana-Jee/72fa9256ee6cc4aee4e14f0b788a0dbf19be5897?p2df. Accessed 23 Sept. 2020.
