By Will Saunders

Data is only data until it is structured.  Then it becomes powerful, relevant and insightful.

That was a key message from Ursula Burns, Xerox chairman and chief executive officer, on the first day of the World Health Care Congress in Washington, D.C. In opening the event with a fireside chat with Dr. Nancy Snyderman, chief medical editor for NBC News, Ursula talked about Xerox’s vision to improve health care including empowerment– ensuring that patients have a stake in their health, and realizing the true value of data. As Ursula said, “It’s not the data itself, but it’s recognizing actionable data.”

Here’s another way to think of it: Xerox provides the “smarts” around each aspect of health care such as:

·Easier access to data through solutions, such as advanced document recognition, intelligent data entry and fraud detection;

·Turning information into insights through real-time clinical decision, patient behavior modeling, population management, and Meaningful Use reporting; and

·Putting insights into action, for example, through a health information exchange – connecting electronic medical records (EMRs) to give caregivers information, analytics and decision support tools that help improve patient care.

Xerox uses data in many ways to simplify how work gets done. For example, a managed print services (MPS) strategy takes one of the most basic functions of the health care business – printing, sharing and storing documents – and with the right data about how caregivers and staff are doing this, health care organizations are saving up to 30 percent of operational costs. By collecting data about how many printers they have, how often they are used, when they need maintenance or repair, their energy, paper, and toner use – even how long printouts sit at a device before they are picked up, IF they are picked up – all of this info gives back time with patients by improving the flow of information through the medical network by integrating document management strategies with existing health information system (HIS) applications and technology.

So while there are stimulus and Meaningful Use dollars on the table for specific technology changes, there are ways to use the data you have now to go to work on some existing processes to make them more efficient and effective.

As we’re building structured data, we’re breaking down walls, helping health care professionals make care and interaction more useful.

This article brought to you by Xerox Corporation .

Will Saunders is the group president of government healthcare solutions for Xerox Corporation.

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