Are Predictive Analytics Really that Integral to the Future of Wound Care?

It’s not out of the ordinary to see a constant parade of new technology showcased in the wound care industry. And while most of these innovations are aligned with our chief goals of delivering better patient care, building game-changing efficiencies, and driving a stronger bottom line, many don’t make the final cut of adoption into our organizations.

Often, this is because of things like:

• Cost
• Integration challenges with existing systems
• Resistance to change
• Not solving the right problem
• Difficulty securing staff buy-in
• Inadequate considerations for security

It’s a long list, but an important and well-founded one. If the new technology doesn’t make sense and do what we need it to, it can be nothing more than a flashy drain on resources.

This brings us to today’s question about a rapidly emerging technology in the wound care space—predictive analytics. Are predictive analytics integral to the future of wound care, or are they another flashy resource drainer we can pass on?

Let’s get into it.

Predictive Analytics Can Do More Than You Think

What’s great about this question is that at its core, it’s simple to answer. If predictive analytics can help us meet our chief goal of better care with greater efficiency while simultaneously having a net positive impact on the bottom line—it’s a home run.

So, what exactly does predictive analytics bring to the table? Most people are aware that predictive analytics aims to do things like predict patient outcomes and recommend the best medical interventions. And while this is remarkably impressive and notable, predictive analytics has the potential to go considerably further.

Here are some of the other ways the technology is being employed in our industry:

• Increase patient participation by decreasing self-discharges
• Tangibly demonstrate the effects of medical interventions to patients
• Identify patients at a higher risk for missed appointments
• Benchmark and project results against the industry
• Find areas of service ripe for improvement
• Automate tasks to ease the burden of documentation
• Automate digital imaging of wounds—locally and remotely
• Propose more data-driven individualized treatment plans
• Streamline the online reputation management process
• Identify underserved areas of the market for targeted advertising

Between the patient-centered benefits and the operational opportunities, predictive analytics stand to reshape the wound care industry at all levels. What this also means is that the decision to implement the technology into the clinical decision making process doesn’t have to be an all or none choice. This allows the technology to fit into more budgets, solve more specific needs, and be a steep or shallow adoption curve—whatever is best for the team.

Business Basics – The Other Piece of the Puzzle

It’s pretty clear at this point that predictive analytics in the wound care space has the ability to bring a ton of value to the table. But the second part of our question deals with how that’s going to affect our bottom line?

The answer to this question doesn’t lie deep in the throes of a medical journal or an in-depth data study. Instead, it lies in the basics of our business acumen.

• Efficiency – If we’re able to offer more efficient care and cut down on things like self-discharges, missed appointments, and the burdens of documentation, what’s going to happen to our bottom line?
• Improvement – If we’re able to identify areas of our services where we can improve the level of care, what impact will that have on things like word of mouth referrals, reviews, quality measures, and more?
• Competition – If we’re able to deliver more innovative and effective care while simultaneously being able to benchmark that performance against competitors to tangibly show our advantages, how long will it be before we take over and dominate the marketspace?

In other words, when predictive analytics delivers on its promises to patients and staff, it simultaneously delivers immense benefits to the bottom line and our ability to compete.

How Do I Learn More?

Our final answer to the question of whether or not predictive analytics is going to be integral to the future of wound care is a resounding yes! And while change can be scary, it should be exciting to know there are opportunities to deliver a higher level of care, support staff with greater efficiencies, and see the fruits of all of this in the bottom line.

And the best part? You don’t have to go this alone. There are an incredible number of resources available to walk you through the process of learning, deciding, and implementing. If you’re ready to learn more, we’d encourage you to check out our free e-book titled, The Future of Wound Care: Predictive Analytics right now.

The Future of Wound Care: Predictive Analytics

Changing the way wound care clinics operate and treat patients

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