Patient 360: Improving Health Outcomes with the Power of Data

Today, healthcare providers have access to patient data on a scale unimaginable just a few years ago. Patient records can now be shared securely across health systems, and remote patient monitoring is giving providers access to vital metrics more consistently over time. The patient 360 is a unified view of patient data that enables providers to gain a holistic understanding of patient information. In this article, we’ll examine how the patient 360-view is creating new opportunities to improve the quality of healthcare. We’ll also look at the role that modern cloud architecture plays in this transformation.   

What Is a Patient 360?

A patient 360 is a comprehensive database of all patient-specific health data. This data may include medical history, electronic health records (EHR), service history, claims data, patient feedback on their own health, and self-reported lifestyle and demographic data. To deepen their level of understanding of each patient, healthcare organizations are enriching their data with information from third-party providers. This supplemental data may include the patient’s proximity to grocery stores with nutritious food choices, the level of air and water pollution in their neighborhood, degree of housing security, availability of transportation, job opportunities, household income, and more. 

Providers and other healthcare team members can access this data via a self-service dashboard. Presented in a comprehensive, easy-to-understand format, the patient 360 empowers healthcare professionals to deliver more personalized care.

How Does a Patient 360 Help Improve Health Outcomes?

The patient 360 allows providers to move beyond the data contained in a patient’s in-office chart. With the ability to see the broader context that affects a patient’s health, physicians and other members of the healthcare team can develop a deeper understanding of their patients and the factors influencing their health. Here are five specific ways that a patient 360 can improve outcomes.

Enables more highly personalized care

Predictive analytics programs can use data from the patient 360 to create a risk score based on the results of lab tests, biometric data, past insurance claims, and social determinants of health (SDOH) such as education level, income, and housing status. Risk scores can help physicians identify patients who may have an increased risk for developing various chronic conditions and may benefit from additional medical services or enrollment in a wellness program.

Strengthens patient engagement

Patients develop a deeper sense of ownership in their health when they make connections between their lifestyle choices and health outcomes. By integrating data from remote patient monitoring systems gathered using connected health devices, providers can analyze trends in important health metrics such as weight, blood pressure, and sleep patterns. Sharing this data with patients provides an opportunity to discuss how daily habits impact quality of life, empowering patients to play a more active role in managing their own health. 

Identifies barriers to receiving care

The patient 360 includes data such as how close the patient lives to public transportation options and the distance between their home and a supermarket. The patient 360 may also include patient-provided data such as current childcare or eldercare obligations and health insurance coverage. By placing this spectrum of information at the provider’s fingertips, the patient 360 can help identify potential barriers to receiving care, allowing providers an opportunity to share available community resources that may resolve them.

Supports decision-making

Technology will never replace physicians, but it can empower them to make more informed decisions and reduce the chance of errors. Preventing dangerous drug-to-drug interaction (DDI) is one example. A system that contains all of a patient’s current medications can alert a physician if they’ve prescribed a medication that may negatively interact with another prescription the patient is currently taking.

Facilitates integrating RPM data for real-time health alerts

RPM data from connected health devices such as blood pressure monitors and glucose meters provide a steady stream of real-time data related to key health metrics and can alert physicians if those readings dip into suboptimal ranges. These alerts give providers the opportunity to intervene, providing the care needed to prevent further deterioration.

The Role of Modern Data Architecture in Patient 360

Traditionally, patient data was stored across multiple systems, often in different formats. In many healthcare organizations, that’s still true today. Fragmented data creates an incomplete view of each patient, making it impossible to create a true patient 360. 

A modern data architecture enables securely uniting siloed data into a single source of truth with the compute power needed to efficiently work with the data. 

High concurrency, scalability, and support for semi-structured data

Developing a patient 360 requires massive amounts of data drawn from many different sources. A cloud data platform provides virtually limitless storage that can be scaled up or down on demand. With dedicated, near-unlimited compute resources, a modern cloud architecture offers high concurrency rates , eliminating resource contention, even during periods of heavy use.

Easily scalable to support future growth

As data volume and patient numbers increase, a cloud data platform can dynamically scale to meet those needs. In contrast to on-premises systems, a cloud data platform can be expanded as needed, adding additional capacity without expensive and time-consuming on-site installation.

Supports collaboration with secure data transfer between providers

The modern cloud architecture is designed to allow providers to share data securely, creating the environment needed for collaboration and growth. 

Access to extensive third-party data

Third-party data provides valuable context that’s difficult to build using internal sources alone. Shared securely via a data marketplace, healthcare organizations can enrich their own data with financial insights from credit agencies, nutrition and lifestyle data gathered from credit card transaction data, and more.

A secure platform that complies with privacy and governance regulations

A cloud data platform provides a place to store and manage data from numerous in-house and external sources in compliance with privacy regulations. A modern cloud architecture offers robust security features and enables enforcement of data governance standards, providing healthcare organizations with a secure way to store, manage, and share patient health data.

Developing a Patient 360 with the Snowflake Data Cloud

With the Snowflake Healthcare & Life Sciences Data Cloud, healthcare organizations now have the depth of insight, analytical power, and collaborative tools they need. Snowflake allows near-unlimited storage and computing capacity for creating robust patient 360 views. Sensitive data is stored securely with built-in security and governance that supports HIPAA, HITRUST, SOC 1 and 2 Type II, PCI DSS, and FedRAMP (medium) requirements. With the advantage of Snowflake’s powerful core platform capabilities, healthcare organizations can focus on improving health outcomes while maintaining strict levels of data security, governance, and compliance.