SPSS Healthcare Brief

8/2/2019 SPSS Healthcare Brief

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Manage resources to deliver

optimal care

Healthcare

The top priority worldwide for organisations involved in healthcare is ensuring that

proper care is delivered wherever and whenever it is needed. Rapidly increasing

costs, however, have placed a renewed emphasis on seeing that care is delivered

efficiently while maintaining high levels of quality.

SPSS, an IBM Company, has a long history of providing support to healthcare organisations. Our

solutions include statistical, data mining, text mining and Web mining tools; business intelligence

and reporting software; and survey research products. Used separately or together,

they enable organisations to:

n Support medical research

n Improve disease management

n Monitor the quality of patient care

n Improve operational efficiency

n Maintain accreditation

n Combat healthcare fraud

n Protect public health.

IBM SPSS software solutions are well suited to healthcare applications. Our solutions use open

architectures, enabling healthcare providers to access and analyse data from a wide variety of

sources, and deliver results in a variety of ways. Because healthcare organisations must often

process large volumes of data, we offer solutions that are highly scalable. Our survey research

solutions meet many statutory requirements, as well as public and private healthcare organisations’

stringent hardware and firewall specifications.

Supporting medical research

Medical research generates massive amounts of data. Individuals and institutions involved in

research rely on IBM SPSS solutions to efficiently manage data collection, analysis and

reporting so they can spend more time on the research itself.



At Japan Red Cross Musashino Hospital, known for its

leading-edge treatment of liver disorders, researchers

sought to improve the hepatitis C cure rate by more

accurately determining the most effective type of treatment

for each patient. An IBM SPSS data mining solution helped

doctors correlate patient factors such as body type, age and

gender with the best treatment method, resulting in more

personalised care and improved patient outcomes.

For example, the Wesley Research Institute (WRI), located in

Brisbane, Australia, relies on IBM SPSS predictive analytics

to improve the quality, safety and clinical outcomes of patient

care at The Wesley Hospital. Surgeons, cardiologists, and

other members of the clinical team use IBM SPSS Data

Collection software to support the Institute’s cardiac

surgery and coronary research programme. Employing

the software for every phase of the research process –

from design through to reporting of results – provides

researchers with timely, relevant data that leads to faster,

more accurate diagnoses.

Improving disease management

Leading hospitals, clinics and individual doctors use

clinical expertise and the best available external evidence

to guide treatment recommendations. IBM SPSS solutions

help providers increase their awareness of the relevant

evidence and evaluate the strength of that evidence so they

can work with their patients to choose the most appropriate

treatment options.

A study done at London’s St. George’s Hospital NHS Trust

is typical of many that shed light on the effectiveness of

medical treatments. Using IBM SPSS statistical software,

the study evaluated more than 14,000 admissions to 14

different hospitals during a nine-year period. It found that

there was a higher mortality risk when certain types of

patients were moved out of intensive care units rather than

kept there longer. This helped the hospital choose the most

effective treatment options for its patients, and provided

guidelines to other hospitals with similar patient populations.

Concern over costs

Healthcare costs are expected to continue rising, even

though in many countries they already represent a

significant share of gross domestic product (GDP).

Share of GDP spent on healthcare

United States 15.2%

France 11.1%

Germany 10.7%

Belgium 10.6%

Austria 10.3%

Canada 9.9%

Denmark 9.5%

Sweden 9.2%

Australia 8.8%

Spain 8.3% Japan 8.2%

United Kingdom 8.2%

Luxembourg 7.8%

Source: “OECD Health Data 2008.” Organisation for

Economic Co-Operation and Development, 2008



In addition, IBM SPSS survey research tools are used by

healthcare organisations to monitor variable types of

feedback. For example, a hospital or clinic can continually

track community or government support for its outreach

programmes and initiatives. The software can also be

used to monitor doctors and staff job satisfaction

and loyalty – important factors in managing valuable

human resources.

Improving operational efficiency

IBM SPSS solutions also help private sector organisations,

such as health insurers, improve efficiencies and obtain the

competitive advantage they need.

Maintaining accreditation

In addition to helping providers evaluate treatment

effectiveness and maintain high levels of patient-care

quality, IBM SPSS software enables them to meet

accreditation requirements such as those established by

the US Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare

Organisations (JCAHO) and similar accrediting bodies

worldwide.

IBM SPSS solutions also give organisations the tools to

identify patterns in patient care that are likely to result in

favorable outcomes. In this way, they can determine the

most cost-effective therapeutic approaches and treatment

protocols to improve patient outcomes and minimise the

need for expensive emergency interventions.

Monitoring quality of care

Keeping patients happy by listening and being attentive

to their needs is a critical component of healthcare

delivery. Statistical software from IBM SPSS software aids

healthcare organisations in understanding and acting

upon variables that affect patients’ satisfaction with the

care they receive.

Dr. Erik Kulstad, Research Director of the Advocate Christ

Medical Center Department of Emergency Medicine

near Chicago, Illinois, completed a study evaluating

the effects of emergency department overcrowding on

patient satisfaction. The study demonstrated that two

factors – hallway use and prolonged boarding time –

were associated with failure to meet satisfaction goals.

These findings played a key role in the development of

a successful proposal to expand the emergency

department’s space and resources.



Another way in which IBM SPSS solutions can be used is in

syndromic surveillance. This is a process that requires

agencies to analyse health data (stripped of any personal

identification), to discover patterns and associations that

suggest the presence of a certain syndrome and the need for

a public health response. Because data comes from many

different sources – emergency room admissions records,

pharmacy sales records, and public safety incident reports,

among others – it is essential that solutions be interoperable

and efficiently use computing resources.

Meeting new challenges

The cost of healthcare will continue to be a concern,

particularly in industrialised nations as older people who

require more healthcare resources comprise a higher

proportion of the population.

One way to curb costs is to cut down on the amount of

paper-handling involved in every phase of healthcare, from

visiting the doctor to picking up prescriptions: there is also

a trend toward computerising doctors’ orders and electronic

medical records.

The increased use of the Web offers opportunities for

improved communication among all parties involved in

healthcare. Consumers use the Web to research medical

conditions, treatments and caregivers, and to purchase

medications, while doctors and other healthcare providers

increasingly communicate with each other electronically.

To comply with quality-control legislation in the Netherlands,

for example, the Hospital of Walcheren chose the IBM SPSS

suite of market research tools. Not only did this solution

improve staff efficiency in processing patient questionnaires,

it also uncovered some unmet patient needs. By quickly

addressing those needs, the hospital improved patient

satisfaction and met regulatory requirements.

Protecting public health

Public health departments function as monitors, researchers

and educators. Their staff must watch trends – both locally

and across borders – in both communicable diseases such

as influenza and chronic conditions such as diabetes. They

must understand the causes behind the trends, and they

must provide healthcare providers and the public with

guidance both in emergency situations, such as the H1N1

flu outbreak in early 2009, and on an ongoing basis.

The open architectures and advanced features of IBM SPSS

solutions make them ideally suited to helping public health

agencies and organisations. When surveying the public

about their knowledge of and attitudes toward certain

health-related topics, IBM SPSS solutions protect individual

privacy while making it easy for agencies to collect information

through a variety of cost-effective channels.



For medical researchers and public health officials, the

trend toward digitising healthcare information offers

exciting opportunities. More data than ever before will be

available – some of it data that could not previously be

analysed, such as doctors’ and nurses’ textual notes. IBM

SPSS text mining can help researchers and others uncover

hidden associations in this new source of data, adding to

the accuracy of current predictive models.

Technology to play a key role

Numerous studies show that healthcare organisations

increasingly recognise that information technology improves

their ability to operate more efficiently and deliver the

quality of care that is required. Technology analyst Gartner

Inc. projects worldwide IT spending on hardware, software,

and services by healthcare organisations to grow at a

compound average growth rate of 5.0 percent a year through

2012. (Source: “Dataquest Alert: Utilities, Healthcare and

Government Lead IT Spending Growth in Challenging 2009,”

ID Number: G00165289, February 10, 2009)

Our company is committed to continuing to provide

healthcare organisations with the powerful yet flexible

predictive analytics solutions they need in order to carry out

their vitally important missions.

For more information on IBM SPSS solutions, visit

www.spss.com/uk or call your local IBM SPSS office.

As well, many healthcare organisations give patients the

ability to access information online, and in this area, IBM

SPSS’s Web mining solution can assist organisations, since

it provides a clear picture of who is visiting a site, when

they are visiting it, and what they do there.

Predictive analytics for healthcare

Our solutions for healthcare can be found at:

n The top 12 FORTUNE Global 500 pharmaceutical

companies*

n Four of the top five FORTUNE Global 500 insurance

and managed care companies*

n Two of the top three FORTUNE Global 500 pharmacies

and other services*

n Five of the top seven FORTUNE 500 medical facilities**

n Many regional and national healthcare agencies,

including those serving densely populated areas

n Medical researchers at numerous universities and public

health agencies, including those conducting research

on genomics and other groundbreaking therapies

n Leading medical associations and charitable

organisations.

* Statistics based on companies that purchased IBM SPSS software; top

companies are as published by Fortune in its 2008 Global 500 list.

** Statistic based on companies that purchased IBM SPSS software; topcompanies are as published by Fortune in its 2008 500 list.



About SPSS, an IBM Company

SPSS, an IBM Company, is a leading global provider

of predictive analytics software and solutions. The

company’s complete portfolio of products – data

collection, statistics, modeling and deployment –

captures people’s attitudes and opinions, predicts

outcomes of future customer interactions, and then

acts on these insights by embedding analytics into

business processes. IBM SPSS solutions address

interconnected business objectives across an entire

organization by focusing on the convergence of analytics,

IT architecture and business process. Commercial,

government and academic customers worldwide rely

on IBM SPSS technology as a competitive advantage in

attracting, retaining and growing customers, while reducing

fraud and mitigating risk. SPSS was acquired by IBM in

October 2009. For more information, visit www.spss.com.

To learn more, please visit www.spss.com/uk or phone 0845 345 0935.

SPSS is a registered trademark and the other SPSS productsnamed are trademarks of SPSS Inc., an IBM Company.© 2009 SPSS Inc., an IBM Company. All rights reserved.

HCIB-1109-UK

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SPSS Healthcare Brief