Looking for the rightdecision-support system?
Looking for the rightdecision-support system?
There are several companies to choose from
Most computerized decision-support systems generate management reports containing executive summaries, charts, graphics, and algorithms representing the comparative data mined. (See examples of graphics from a hypothetical specimen report issued by HealthShare, p. 48.) There you can see costs - total, direct, salary - charges, lengths of stay, payer mix, market share, case volume and mix, and demographic makeup of up to eight comparable institutions.
The programs consider an assortment of indicators, and the information is taken from a variety of public and private sources, including clients' existing information systems, provider and payer systems, and state and federal government filing information.
"Facilities using our software range in size from 50 to 1,000 beds," says Richard B. Siegrist Jr., founder and CEO of HealthShare Technology in Acton, MA. "If even a small facility took a recommendation from our report and brought it to fruition, its savings could far outweigh what they paid for the software." Some systems are best used in tandem; one enhances the other.
The following four companies are among many that produce decision-support systems. State hospital associations and the federal Agency for Health Care Policy and Research in Rockville, MD, also collect public information that can be used in making comparisons of the use and cost of health care services:
· HealthShare Technology Inc.
360 Massachusetts Ave.
Acton, MA 01720-3700
Telephone: (978) 263-6300
E-mail: http://www.healthshare.com
· HBO & Company
301 Perimeter Center North
Atlanta, GA 30346
Telephone: (800) 981-8601
E-mail: http://www.hboc.com
· HCIA Inc.
300 East Lombard St.
Baltimore, MD 21202
Telephone: (800) 568-3282
E-mail: http://www.hcia.com
· Transitions Systems Inc. (TSI)
One Boston Place
Boston, MA 02108-4423
Telephone: (617) 723-4222
E-mail: http://www.tsidss.com
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