Clinical analyst depends on Caché's high performance for data "right at her fingertips"
Key Benefits
- High Performance
- The Web
There are answers and clues hidden in a hospital's database-answers and clues that can tell clinicians and administrators better ways to take care of patients and improve care, or run a hospital more efficiently. Sifting through data, you can discover why a patient died. Or why one lived. In the fight for the medical dollar, the data could tell hospitals the "best practice" methods that will get them included on U.S. News and World Report's list of the 100 Best Hospitals in the United States.
But first you have to be able to get to the data.
To sort through the databases at Forsyth Medical Center, a 900-bed hospital in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, Senior Clinical Analyst Jeannie Kiger, RN, depends on the fast response time of Axis Clinical Software's Caché-based Patient Administration and Tracking System (PATS). Like so many users of packaged software, Kiger is not particularly knowledgeable about the underlying technology of the software she uses daily. She's more concerned with how the software lets her do her job. "I do know there's something called Caché running in the background," said Kiger. "I'm just happy for what it lets me do, although I would like to know what makes it run so fast."
The reason Caché applications can outperform applications built with relational technology is no mystery. Caché is a post-relational database. At its core is a multidimensional data engine that enables the intuitive and efficient modeling of complex, real-world data. Unlike relational databases, Caché doesn't have to "reassemble" data stored in multiple two-dimensional tables. All of the processing associated with "table-hopping" and joins is eliminated so applications run faster. Caché developers report that their applications run up to 20 times faster once they are ported from relational databases to Caché, and this boost in performance comes without changing a single line of application code.
"The ease with which I can make a
query and run a report and, most importantly,
be sure that the data is correct
cannot be overemphasized."
--Jeannie Kiger, RN
Senior Clinical Analyst
Forsyth Medical Center
Caché's performance translates into a level of confidence not usually seen with other technologies. "The ease with which I can make a query and run a report and, most importantly, be sure that the data is correct cannot be overemphasized," said Kiger. As an example, she told the following story:
"A doctor came to me who was interested in seeing the death statistics associated with his patients. I was able to turn to my computer and run the report right then and there. The system puts the information right at my fingertips, in every way, shape, and form." Anyone in need of information who ever has experienced the excruciating wait, the infuriating error message, the sinking feeling of doubt that a computer can deliver can appreciate the speed and reliability Caché brings to an application.
A large part of Kiger's job is collecting and forwarding data to healthcare-related data collection organizations. These organizations, such as the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO), the Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS), the American College of Cardiology Hospitals, and the Duke Clinical Research Institute (DCRI), track and report on the performance of medical facilities, act as a central repository that other organizations can access, and influence the disbursement of funds. For example, the DCRI forwards data to the Society of Thoracic Surgeons, and without JCAHO accreditation a hospital is not eligible for Medicare reimbursement, a substantial portion of all healthcare expenditure. Indeed, it was the DCRI's decision to receive data electronically that caused Forsyth to turn to Axis Clinical Software. Axis markets PATS, software that is designed and optimized for clinical outcomes analysis and reporting for virtually any medical specialty. PATS has a registry library composed of virtually every medical specialty.
Caché-based PATS offers medical professionals the unique ability to store and use clinical data directly with built-in statistics, reporting, and analysis, or use SQL to quickly access the very complex data types found in healthcare. "Many hospitals and IT departments want to use SQL to do data analysis because they are familiar with it," explained Scott Page, president of Axis. "Relational systems, however, aren't adept at storing and quickly accessing the large amounts and types of data typically generated by a medical facility. Caché gives us the multidimensional data model to store complex data, and multiple ways to access the data, one of which is SQL."
"Relational systems, however, aren't adept at storing and quickly accessing the large amounts and types of data typically generated by a medical facility. Caché gives us the multidimensional data model to store complex data, and multiple ways to access the data, one of which is SQL."
--Scott Page
President
Axis Clinical Sofware
"Everyone is fighting for the healthcare dollar, and the PATS system is the way we ensure that we can compete," explained Kiger. "It is also the reason we can continually improve the level of care we provide."
"Axis Clinical Software is dedicated to enhancing the practice of medicine through outcomes analysis," said Page. "Our staff of healthcare and technical specialists provides unparalleled product development and client support, and we couldn't do that without Caché."