In the 21st century, data analytics is becoming increasingly important in a wide range of professional fields, and healthcare is no exception. There is a strong need for professionals in the healthcare space to develop a deeper familiarity with healthcare analytics, defined by an article in the journal BMJ Open as “a methodological approach to the systematic analysis of health data and provides opportunities for healthcare professionals to improve health system management, patient engagement, budgeting and planning.”
Healthcare analytics uses both real-time and historical data to identify trends and leverage potential actions to achieve healthcare goals and outcomes. Working with healthcare data in this way requires a specific skill set. Professionals need to be able to organize, manage and ultimately make sense of the data in front of them if they want to help their organizations succeed. For students who wish to grasp the necessary skills, the University of Illinois Springfield (UIS) online Master of Business Administration (MBA) with Healthcare Analytics Certificate program is the perfect option.
What Is Healthcare Analytics?
The first step to mastering data analysis skills is to gain a precise understanding of what healthcare analytics actually is. According to G2, a software marketplace, “Healthcare analytics analyze current and historical data from healthcare organizations to develop actionable recommendations, predict trends, and improve disease management and patient outcomes.”
In addition, healthcare providers use the insights generated by healthcare analytics to make more effective decisions. “When healthcare analytics tools are integrated with business intelligence and data visualization systems, providers can get real-time information that leads to better decision-making,” G2 states.
Healthcare analytics is also important as a potential cost-saving measure for businesses in the medical field. For example, one area where healthcare analytics is leading to more efficient results is the health insurance sector, according SAS. “Fraud, waste and abuse divert billions away from patient care annually,” it notes. “Faster, more aggressive investigation and detection of key risk indicators at every stage of the process are key to controlling costs and protecting patients.”
What Are Examples of Analytical Skills?
Within the healthcare field, there exists both a demand for professionals with data science skills and a lack of professionals with the necessary skills and competencies to meet that demand, according to the BMJ Open article. It notes that particular in-demand skills are “statistics, applying machine learning techniques, story-telling, delivering actionable results, data-driven problem solving,” as well as the creation of visualizations and the capacity to work within multidisciplinary teams.
Students in UIS’s online MBA with Healthcare Analytics Certificate program hone these skills through courses such as Information Technology Management, which provides a grounding in information flow within organizations, managerial decision-making tools, data quality control and assurance and other fundamental data skills. UIS’s Introduction to Healthcare Informatics is also vital for healthcare professionals who want to work with healthcare analytics. The course introduces students to key concepts and practices of healthcare informatics, providing a thorough overview of how information technology can support patient care and healthcare organizations.
The Benefits of a Healthcare Analytics Certificate
Healthcare companies can longer afford to stay stuck in the past. As Vaishnavi Shah notes in an article for ThoughtSpot, today’s healthcare landscape requires that professionals have up-to-the-minute insights, not static dashboards or quickly outdated information.
“Healthcare analytics solutions are helping businesses turn raw data into interactive data visualizations to transform the way they deliver care,” Shah writes. “Even better, they see results that exceed expectations: differentiation, revenue growth, and increased patient loyalty.”
The UIS MBA with Healthcare Analytics Certificate program is an opportunity to learn the best methods of extracting useful insights from digital systems of all kinds, from electronic health records to healthcare informatics incomes. The program offers professionals both the data skills and the business acumen to navigate a data-rich world and help stakeholders at every level of a healthcare organization improve their outcomes.
Learn more about UIS’s online MBA with Healthcare Analytics Certificate program.
