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Chapter 4 • Business Reporting, Visual Analytics, and Business Performance Management 213

and infrastructure uses IBM software and hardware to deliver help doctors gain the information they need to avoid patient
trusted information in the right context at the right time to infections that are common in hospitals, and will help phar-
users based on their roles. Using the new platform, Premier macists ensure safe and effective medication use.
members will be able to use the portal to access the integrated Data from facility admission, discharge, and transfer
system for various clinical, business, and compliance-related (ADT) systems along with departmental systems, such as
applications. From a clinical aspect, they will have access to pharmacy, microbiology, and lab information systems, will
best practices from leading hospitals and healthcare experts be sent to Premier’s core data warehouse as HL7 messages,
across the nation and can match patient care protocols with with near–real-time processing of this data occurring at a
clinical outcomes to improve patient care. rate of 3,000 transactions per second. With the high perfor-
Applications on the new platform will run the gamut mance that DB2 data software provides, Premier members
from retrospective analysis of patient populations focused on can quickly learn of emerging healthcare issues, such as an
identifying how to reduce readmissions and hospital-acquired increased incidence of MRSA (a highly drug-resistant version
conditions to near–real-time identification of patients receiv- of staphylococcus aureus bacteria) in a particular area.
ing sub-therapeutic doses of an antibiotic. Business users Data from IBM DB2 database software will be loaded
within the alliance will be able to compare the effectiveness into the IBM Netezza data warehouse appliance to enable
of care locally and with national benchmarks, which will help members to conduct advanced analytics faster and easier than
them improve resource utilization, minimizing waste both in was previously possible. IBM Cognos Business Intelligence
healthcare delivery and in administrative costs. Additionally, will be used to help members identify and analyze opportu-
this integrated data will help healthcare organizations con- nities and trends across their organizations.
tract with payers in support of integrated, accountable care. IBM InfoSphere software is used to acquire, transform,
Premier’s commitment to improving healthcare extends and create a single, trusted view of each constituent or entity.
beyond its member organizations. As part of its work, it The data is then integrated and validated, and clinical or
teamed with IBM to create an integrated set of data models business rules management is applied through WebSphere
and templates that would help other organizations establish ILOG software. These rules can help automatically notify
a comprehensive data warehouse of clinical, operational, clinicians of critical issues, such as the appropriate dosing
and outcomes information. This data model, called the IBM of anti- coagulation medication. IBM Tivoli software provides
Healthcare Provider Data Warehouse (HCPDW), can help security and service management. Application develop-
healthcare organizations provide their staff with accurate and ment is built upon Rational® software and a common user
timely information to support the delivery of evidence-based, experience and collaboration are provided through IBM
patient-centric, and accountable care. Connections software.

journey to smarter Decisions business benefits
Fundamental to helping Premier turn its vision into reality is Potential benefits for saving lives, helping people enjoy
an Information Agenda strategy that transforms information healthier lives, and reducing healthcare costs are enormous.
into a strategic asset that can be leveraged across applications, In one Premier project, 157 participating hospitals saved an
processes, and decisions. “In its simplest form, Premier’s estimated 24,800 lives while reducing healthcare spending by
platform brings together information from all areas of the $2.85 billion. The new system helps providers better iden-
healthcare system, aggregates it, normalizes it, and bench- tify which treatments will enable their patients to live longer,
marks it, so it impacts performance while the patient is still in healthier lives. It also supports Premier members’ work to
the hospital or the physician’s office,” says Figlioli, senior vice address healthcare reform and other legislative requirements.
president of healthcare informatics at the Premier healthcare “When I think about my children, I think about what
alliance. “We wanted a flexible, nimble partner because this it will mean for them to live in a society that has solved the
is not a cookie-cutter kind of project,” says Figlioli. “Premier complexities of the healthcare system, so that no matter where
and IBM brought to the table an approach that was best of they live, no matter what they do, no matter what condition
breed and included a cultural and partnering dimension that they have, they can have the best possible care,” says Figlioli.
was fundamentally different from other vendors.” Over the next 5 years, Premier plans to provide its
The organization’s IT division is building its new infra- members with many new applications in support of health-
structure from the ground up. This includes replacing its exist- care reform and other legislative requirements. As capabili-
ing x86 servers from a variety of hardware vendors with IBM ties are added, the SaaS model will enable the platform to
POWER7 processor-based systems to gain greater performance support its commitment to keep all 2,600 hospital members
at a lower cost. In fact, an early pilot showed up to a 50 per- on the same page, and even expand its user community.
cent increase in processing power with a reduction in costs. With its new approach, Premier IT staff can develop, test,
Additionally, the company is moving its core data warehouse and launch new applications from a central location to pro-
to IBM DB2 pureScale, which is highly scalable to support vide users with updates concurrently. This is a lower-cost
the growing amount of data that Premier is collecting from its way to give Premier members an analytics solution with a
members. As part of Premier’s platform, DB2 pureScale will shorter time to value.

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