Dell: Unlocking Information

Unlocking Information: Digital data is a hospital’s most valuable resource.

For centuries, medical information has been stored on paper, stuffed into filing cabinets, and stacked in basements around the world. And to this day, much of these hand-written charts sit, collecting dust, more legal liability than clinical asset.

The digital age brings with the the potential for medical information to transform the entire healthcare industry. Meaningful use of patient data not only saves time by putting critical information into the hands of physicians and nurses at the point of care, it also allows for the efficient movement of data between doctors, labs, pharmacies, insurers and patients. It allows care organizations to track and analyze patient outcomes, and reward physicians based on the results of their care, rather than the volume of services they deliver. And it opens the door to advanced population health analytics, disease prediction and personalized medicine. This is the evolution of healthcare delivery, and it is being made possible by information technology.

Before any of this can occur, however, all of the critical data that hospital use – from patient data to financial and operational data, from medical images to lab results – must first be digitized, protected and exchanged. We call this process “Unlocking Informaton,” and it is the foundation of the future of healthcare. This white paper examines how hospitals can unlock the value captured in digital data and use it to benefit patients and create a new, more successful information-driven healthcare industry.