In the run-up to Christmas I went into my favorite used book store in Philly and treated myself to a book on graphic art used in Joseph Pulitzer’s newspaper The World from 1898-1911. One thing that struck me about the New York paper was the pervasive use of infographics to help its readers get some perspective on their city. A quick Google search helped me find what’s commonly referred to as the first use of an infographic in healthcare. Florence Nightingale produced one to demonstrate the causes of death in the Crimean War. It highlighted that the number of British soldiers who died from preventable diseases acquired in hospitals far exceeded those who died from their wounds and other causes.
This year, companies and organizations used infographics to communicate the shifting list of healthcare CIOs’ responsibilities to putting price transparency into practice and ways hospitals and employers are using digital health to try to rein in healthcare costs. Here’s a roundup of seven infographics produced this year that draw attention to trends in digital health and a hint of what’s to come in 2015.
Hospitals innovation priorities and challenges As hospitals continue to explore the potential of digital health tools, it’s worthwhile highlighting what their priorities are and the challenges they face in meeting them. A report by HIMSS and Avia, punctuated with an inforgraphic, found that clinical decision support, disease management, care coordination, patient follow-up and shared decision making have been the top innovation priorities for providers. Cost reduction, patient satisfaction, knowledge sharing and reducing medical errors are on the to do list. But the survey of 92 respondents noted that the number of staff to implement these changes, the limits of EMR systems to provide the level of data needed and the costs of implementing these changes are significant barriers for many hospitals.
Power of the periodic table CB Insights took a cool approach to healthcare deal flow by using periodic tables to spotlight the key players in pharma, biotech and medical device deals such as venture capital and angel investors. It did something similar with the Internet of Things and flagged up wearables, accelerators for digital health and investors in the space, among other things.Price transparency In a year where price transparency continued to grow as a talking point, an infographic illustrating Change Healthcare’s “Health Transparency Index” offered an illustrated analysis of more than 180 million claims from the fourth quarter of 2013. It highlights the biggest healthcare price discrepancies between providers in imaging services like CT scans, ultrasounds and mammograms, and office visits with diabetes screenings.
Changing role of CIOs A report from executive search firm SSi Search calls attention to the shifting role of CIOs in healthcare. The infographic highlights their wide-ranging responsibilities in the new order of healthcare assisting in defining and supporting new patient care models, new reimbursement models and supporting numerous regulatory mandates. Their roles will include analytics initiatives, building the clinical skill sets of their teams and seeking greater strategic involvement in their health systems.
A Deep-dive Into Specialty Pharma
A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
Digital health to control costs A Towers Watson survey of 597 employees looked at how employers are using and could use digital health to control healthcare costs. It noted that more than half are tweaking their employer plans to reduce healthcare costs, particularly with telemedicine. About 37 percent of employers said they plan to offer telemedicine by 2015 and another 34 percent said they are considering adopting it by 2016 or 2017, according to the report.
Emerging technology The “Technology Roadmap” from Barkley’s Innovation Lab isn’t so concerned with healthcare trends so much as the future of technology. It does highlight areas that healthcare is only beginning to explore more widely, such as 3D scanning, biometrics, and augmented reality.
Hand hygiene Remote monitoring was a hot discussion topic this year as was the subject of reducing hospital acquired infections. An infographic from Debmed combined them as part of a survey of hospitals. About one third of hospitals said they were considering a monitoring system purchase to confirm whether employees were washing their hands properly.
