SIIM: People and process essential for successful business intelligence

MINNEAPOLIS—“It’s not all about technology,” opined Ramin Khorasani, MD, MPH, vice chairman department of radiology at Brigham & Women’s Hospital in Boston, who insisted that people and process are essential to the success of business intelligence systems, during his presentation at the Society of Imaging Informatics in Medicine (SIIM) annual meeting last week.

Business intelligence provides a platform for data-driven decision making and objective performance measures. IT serves as the foundation for business intelligence, but without leadership and resources, business intelligence falls far short of its promise. Instead of driving the desired operational and clinical improvements, business intelligence can become a series of pretty graphs, said Khorasani.

He provided a list of questions and actions to improve the probability of successful business intelligence programs and offered Brigham's experience as a case study.

• Is there a structure, process and leadership commitment to change? Brigham employed a structured, phased approach to its dashboard. In 2008, a small executive team developed 5-10 key performance indicators (KPIs). The number of KPIs grew to 92 by 2009, and the following year, a radiology quality improvement council formed, Khorasani said.
• Does the leadership team bring knowledge of quality and performance improvement methodologies such as continuous quality improvement, lean or Six Sigma? The Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) Quality Improvement Starter Kit provides another option, he said.
• Do the selected metrics measure what you want to change? Start with an assessment of current performance and define the target performance in an easy to understand, reproducible and accessible format. Make sure the target is actionable.
• What are the data needs in the practice? Radiology needs objective measures of performance in multiple areas, including practice performance, regulatory compliance and financial performance.
• Is the team ready to collaborate with other departments in the hospital? It’s likely that data resides in other systems, and external stakeholders provide valuable input into the process.
• Prepare for change. Pay for performance and meaningful use can’t be ignored and must be considered as part of the business intelligence process.

“Mining imaging databases creates an opportunity for quality improvement,” concluded Khorasani. Success requires a comprehensive package: people, process and technology.