Healthcare Analytics Maturity

Framework

Overview

Healthcare Analytics Maturity Framework

Introduction
The need to reduce costs, the demand for improved quality, and significant change constitute three formidable,
mounting pressures on healthcare. Rich Umbdenstock, president and chief executive officer of the American
Hospital Association, has observed that we live in the new era of accountability,1 as evidenced by the
proliferation of required performance measures.
Healthcare has been undergoing an information revolution, a world in which data has been recognized as a
strategic asset. As a result, more and more data has been captured, and organizations have spent millions of
dollars building data warehouses, which, sadly, all too often have become data landfills. Growing recognition of
the importance of extracting value and actionable intelligence from data has made analytics in vogue. But how
does an organization objectively assess its level of maturity in adopting and using analytics?
While various analytics adoption and sophistication models have been presented as applicable to healthcare, in
general, they have been based on studies of organizations from multiple industries, at best including a limited
number of healthcare organizations, often quite broadly defined (e.g., including life sciences companies).
In contrast, the Healthcare Analytics Maturity Framework is based solely on the collective experiences of over
850 healthcare provider and payer organizations in the United States and the United Kingdom with which
MedeAnalytics has worked over a decade-long period of time. The framework presents four levels or stages of
overall analytics maturity as distinguished by the following six salient criteria:

Data sources scope and number

Data quality accuracy and integrity

Data currency timeliness, frequency of use

Analytic features functional sophistication

User profile description and breadth of users

Adoption profile nature of organizational use

Healthcare organizations around the world are challenged by pressures to reduce costs,
improve coordination and outcomes, provide more with less and be more patient centric.
Yet, at the same time, evidence is mounting that the industry is increasingly challenged
by entrenched inefficiencies and suboptimal clinical outcomes. Building analytics competency
can help these organizations harness big data to create actionable insights, set their
future vision, improve outcomes and reduce time to value.
James W. Cordata, et al.2

Healthcare Analytics Maturity Framework

Healthcare Analytics Maturity Framework

Levels

Criteria
Data Sources

Data Quality

Data Currency

Analytic Features

User Profile

Adoption Profile

Enterprise-wide
sources encompassing
financial, clinical and
operational data

Consistent: wellestablished data

governance, validated
data sources, and
consistent business
rules applied at the
enterprise level

Daily or intraday, with

real-time emerging

Active analytics
combined with content
and personalization;
guided decision making
via predictive models
and/or workflow;
collaboration and
modeling capabilities
used for prospective
analysis

Data democracy, with

users at all levels
comfortable interacting
with analytics
and collaborating
for performance
improvement

Active management
of operations via
scorecards and visual
summaries; analytics
viewed as a critical
component to measure
and drive results,
enabling a performance
management culture

Multiple functional
areas, multi-system
sourced

Valid: data provenance

established back to
systems of record;
business rules
converging

Weekly or daily

Active analytics (e.g.,

alerts, visuals) with
the ability to answer ad
hoc queries; multiple
forecasting modes

Onset of senior
management usage
with scorecards
and alerts; material
progress toward
cross-functional use
and interaction

Nascent enterprise
(vs. functional) view;
proactive orientation
of user; measurement
and management of
operational targets

Single functional area,

multi-system sourced

Improving: data
Monthly snapshot
governance is taking
effect and data sources
are being vetted

Passive analytics
(summaries and
derived values) with
hierarchical reporting;
simple forecasting based
on historical trend

Analysts remain
primary users, with
some managers
becoming adopters

Evolving to richer
data sets; adding
summarizations and
trends; experimenting
with graphical
representation
and departmental
performance
management

Single functional area, Minimal: data

single-system sourced inconsistencies persist

Infrequent, typically
quarterly or ad hoc

Structured reporting
Analysts are primary,
with sorting and
if not exclusive, users
summarization; no
forecasting or modeling
capabilities

Functionally oriented
retrospective view

2012 MedeAnalytics, Inc.

Healthcare Analytics Maturity Framework

Additional Information
MedeAnalytics provides complimentary educational white papers
on a wide range of salient topics as a service to the healthcare
industry. Regarding the use of analytics in healthcare, two white
papersAnalytics Versus Reporting: The Salient Differences, and
Building a Powerful Hospital Scorecardby Keeping It Simple!
are available at www.medeanalytics.com/resources/white-papers.

About MedeAnalytics
Founded in 1994, MedeAnalytics delivers performance
management solutions across the healthcare systemincluding
hospitals, physician practices and payersto ensure accountability
and improve financial, operational and clinical outcomes. For more
information, visit www.medeanalytics.com.

References
1. Rich Umbdenstock, The New Era of Accountability, H&HN, Jan. 2012,
pg. 28.
2. James W. Cortada, Dan Gordon and Bill Lenihan, The value of analytics
in healthcare, IBM Global Business Services Executive Report, Jan.
2012, pg. 1.

2012 MedeAnalytics, Inc. All rights reserved. MA-HAMF-0212