Harnessing Entity Resolution to Unlock Smarter Healthcare Data

In complex healthcare systems such as the National Health Service (NHS) in the UK, managing the ever-increasing volume of data from the myriads of disperate sources is a formidable challenge. This data is often stored across multiple, fragmented, siloed systems with inconsistent information standards and limited interoperability. This contributes to poor care, dis-jointed working and harms outcomes and public trust.

The phrase “data rich, insights poor” is often used to emphasise the importance of data driven actionable intelligence in delivering the best care, improving outcomes and enabling a healthier population. However, there is still work to be done on the "data rich" aspect to support "insights." Specifically, it is necessary to unify, cleanse, and integrate your disparate data sets into a single, reliable, and contextually enriched data asset. This is where entity resolution (ER) comes in, offering your organization a transformative approach that accelerates these processes.

ER is the key to transforming disparate healthcare data into a powerful, unified resource. Here’s how it drives meaningful change.

What is entity resolution?

Before exploring its full impact, let’s break down what ER is and why it’s essential for healthcare. ER is the process of identifying and linking records that refer to the same entity across different data sets, with an entity being a real-world thing, such as a person, organization, address, phone number, or ID. In the context of healthcare, this means accurately merging patient records, clinical trials, medical histories, and various broader healthcare adjacent data points across regions and points of care - particularly where linking IDs, such as an NHS number, are not available or of variable completeness.

With ER ensuring a clear and complete view of healthcare data, organizations can unlock a range of benefits that drive better outcomes.

Benefit 1: Accelerating unification

One of the primary benefits of ER is its ability to rapidly unify your disparate data sets. By employing sophisticated algorithms and machine learning techniques, ER can swiftly identify duplicate records and link them together. This not only ensures that healthcare providers and commissioners/ payors have a complete view of a patient's medical history but also minimises the risk of errors that could arise from fragmented data.

For instance, consider a patient who has received treatment at multiple healthcare providers or across multiple points of care. Without ER, their medical records might be dispersed across various databases, leading to incomplete or inconsistent information. ER bridges this gap, offering a unified 360 view that enhances clinical and operational decision-making and patient care.

Benefit 2: Enhancing data cleansing

Data quality is paramount in healthcare, where inaccuracies can have serious consequences. ER plays a crucial role in cleansing data by identifying and rectifying inconsistencies, inaccuracies, and duplications. Through automated processes, Quantexa’s ER solution can flag discrepancies and prompt data stewards to take corrective actions.

This not only improves the accuracy of your data but also ensures your compliance with regulatory standards.

Benefit 3: Facilitating interoperability

ER's ability to cleanse data enhances interoperability between different healthcare IT systems. By establishing a common framework for data consistency, ER facilitates smoother data exchange and integration across various platforms, thereby improving the overall efficiency of the healthcare system.

This enhanced interoperability not only improves efficiency but also ensures that critical patient data is available when and where it’s needed most.

Benefit 4: Streamlining data input

The inputting of data is another area where ER proves invaluable. Manual data entry is prone to errors and inefficiencies, and the sheer volume of data across the healthcare system makes it impractical to rely solely on human efforts. ER automates the process of matching and linking records, reducing the burden on healthcare professionals and administrative staff.

For example, when new patient data is entered into your system, ER can automatically match it with existing records, ensuring that the new information is accurately integrated. This streamlines workflows, reduces administrative overheads, and allows you to focus more on patient care.

Benefit 5: Filling data gaps

One of the less obvious but highly impactful benefits of ER is its ability to fill gaps in your datasets. Incomplete data can hinder the effectiveness of healthcare delivery and research. ER can identify missing information by linking related data points across different sources. This can be particularly useful when you're creating comprehensive patient profiles, where missing or fragmented information can be detrimental.

For example, ER can connect disparate pieces of data to fill in missing details about a patient’s medical history, such as previous treatments, medications, or diagnoses that may not be available in a single dataset. By reconstructing these gaps, ER helps in providing a more holistic view, thereby supporting better clinical decisions and research outcomes.

Benefit 6: Context boosting

ER also enables context boosting through the integration of broader data sets such as air quality, events, wider determinants of health, and data from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). By incorporating these external factors into patient records, ER provides a richer, more comprehensive view of an individual's overall health and well-being. For example, understanding how air quality impacts respiratory conditions or how socio-economic factors influence health outcomes can lead to more personalised and effective care plans. This holistic approach to data integration supports proactive healthcare measures and enhances the ability to address population health challenges.

Benefit 7: Complementing existing integration solutions

It is essential to recognise that ER does not operate in isolation but complements existing integration providers and vendors. Traditionally, integration has focused on consolidating data from various sources into a unified repository. While this is vital, ER adds an additional layer of value add by ensuring that the consolidated data is accurate, consistent, and free from duplications.

Quantexa’s ER solution can seamlessly integrate with existing integration solutions, enhancing their functionality. This symbiotic relationship ensures that the healthcare system can leverage the best of both worlds – robust integration capabilities complemented by advanced entity resolution techniques.

Applicability to the NHS

Entity resolution is particularly applicable to the NHS, where the fragmentation of patient data across various trusts and systems can hinder effective healthcare delivery. By implementing ER, the NHS can achieve a unified 360 view of patient records, which is crucial for coordinated care and reducing clinical risks. Furthermore, ER is complementary to the NHS's Federated Data Platform (FDP) initiative, which aims to enhance data accessibility and integration across the healthcare system. By working in tandem with the FDP, ER can ensure that the integrated data is accurate, consistent, and comprehensive, thereby maximising the benefits of the FDP and supporting the NHS's goals of improving patient outcomes and operational efficiency.

Future-proofing healthcare with smarter data management

Entity resolution is a game-changer for healthcare systems, offering a powerful solution to the challenges of unifying, cleansing, and inputting disparate data sets. By accelerating these processes, ER enhances data quality, improves patient care, and streamlines operational and clinical workflows. Furthermore, ER's ability to adapt to evolving data landscapes makes it a valuable addition to a robust data management strategy. As new data sources emerge and existing ones evolve, ER can dynamically adjust to maintain data integrity and consistency.

As the healthcare system continues to navigate the complexities of data management, the adoption of ER stands as a testament to its commitment to innovation and excellence. By embracing ER, the healthcare system is not only future-proofing its data ecosystem but also paving the way for a more efficient, accurate, and patient-centric healthcare system.

Find out more about how Quantexa’s Entity Resolution solution could benefit your orgnization.

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