Big Data Project Designed to Enhance Hospital Productivity

A new Industrial Internet objective is to link brilliant machines, cutting-edge analytics, and people, to fuel productivity of hospitals and reduce costs, thereby promoting the delivery of timely and effective data that optimizes efficiency of diagnosis and treatment. 

GE Healthcare (Chalfont St. Giles, UK) recently presented its Industrial Internet mission to the Middle East, which utilizes the potential of big data to strengthen the productivity and operational efficiency of the region’s healthcare infrastructure. 

The incorporation of brilliant machines, advanced analytics, and skilled people was demonstrated at GE’s stand at Arab Health 2014, the Middle East and Africa’s premier healthcare conference, held January 2014 in Dubai (UAE). The Industrial Internet approach of connecting big data with advanced technology is estimated to enable the global healthcare industry to save USD 20 billion yearly through increased productivity. 

Maher Abouzeid, president and CEO of GE Healthcare for the Middle East and Pakistan, said, “Through GE Healthcare’s Industrial Internet mission, we aim to deliver outcome-based offerings and solutions for customers to enhance the productivity and efficiency of the hospital infrastructure. This is of great significance to the Middle East region, where healthcare costs are increasing, in line with the increasing incidence of lifestyle diseases and growth in population. By identifying, liberating, and analyzing the data captured by software and technology, caregivers will have the information they need when they need it to help enable them to prevent, diagnose, treat, and cure. This will also enable healthcare practitioners to further sharpen their diagnostic and treatment capabilities by benefiting from the most relevant data for accurate and faster care. While healthcare has always relied on big data, our focus is to use this information effectively by providing the right technology that enable physicians to make the right diagnosis and match it with the right treatment.”

GE Healthcare’s Industrial Internet approach offers workable insights to practitioners by connecting data from a variety of sources to help them derive conclusions that contribute to better patient care. The company is continuing to invest in developing and delivering software that connects caregivers to systems to help with better-informed diagnosis and enhanced care. 

By drawing on big data, GE Healthcare’s goal is to enhance care for more patients through scheduling efficiencies, faster data entry, proactive asset management, clinical decision support, and financial gains that allow for expansion. It also potentially reduces costs by optimizing workflow in care delivery, minimizing payment cycles, maximizing reimbursement rates, and eliminating unnecessary waste. The third key benefit is in minimizing rework and redundancies by enhancing collaboration. 

Formed in June 2012 and launched in the Middle East and Arab Health 2013, Caradigm (Seattle, WA, USA) is a 50-50 joint venture between the healthcare information technology (IT) business of General Electric Co. (Fairfield, CT, USA) and Microsoft Corp. (Redmond, WA, USA The collaboration is aimed at enabling health systems and professionals to use near real-time, organization-wide intelligence to improve healthcare quality and the patient experience. Caradigm’s open healthcare intelligence platform and collaborative clinical applications are centered on enabling better population health management to improve outcomes and the economics of health and wellness.

GE Healthcare announced plans in 2013 to invest $2 billion to further develop novel software for healthcare systems and applications. The investment is designed to advance current and future technology to address new operational and productivity challenges faced by healthcare organizations worldwide. 

Related Links:
GE Healthcare
Caradigm