Bharti Rai: Enabling Holistic Patient Care with Data and Analytics

Bharti Rai, Chief US Commercial Operations, Insights, Analytics,
Data Officer at Novartis, shares her views about how healthcare
companies should harness the power of data to provide more holistic
patient care

Data-driven technologies are transforming the entire healthcare
sector, from enabling innovative new approaches to medicine
development to improving patient care and even preventing people
from getting sick in the first place.


In this week’s Business of Data podcast, Bharti Rai, Chief US
Commercial Operations, Insights, Analytics and Data Officer at
pharmaceutical firm Novartis, argues that, for best results,
healthcare companies should align their analytics programs around
forming a holistic view of their patients.


“When the health sector started its digital data journey, it was
all about the EMRs (Emergency Medical Responders),” she says.
“Then, it became more business process centric. Now, the goal is
to use analytics to drive patient care and care delivery to add
whatever value the patient needs, even outside healthcare.


“I’d say all the industries within this ecosystem should work
together to get a holistic view of the patient. We should be
asking ourselves how we can use the power of analytics to make
patient care better.”
Key Challenges for Healthcare Data Leaders

Digital transformations are a huge undertaking. Although the
stakes are undoubtedly higher in sectors where people’s lives and
wellbeing are at stake, many of the healthcare analytics
challenges Rai highlights will be familiar to all data-focused
executives.


“You’ve got to have your basics around data platforms and
modernization in order,” Rai says. “It’s not as easy as just
putting everything in the cloud, because this is not only for
analytics. Your operations almost run on the data and the
platforms. So, I think starting that modernization journey is
step one. But we also know that that modernization journey takes
a long time. So, how do you provide value?”


To ensure healthcare sector digital transformation projects
deliver value, Rai recommends that data-focused executives take
steps to ensure they work in close alignment with the business
units they serve.


“You should constantly be having conversations to define what
success looks like at every stage of the journey,” Rai
recommends. “Take stock of where you are, where you've come from,
what challenges still remain and what you need from the
organization to make more progress. This isn’t a ‘one and done’
process. It's constant learning.”


She continues: “Analytics teams have to go through a lot of pain
to drive value, working in an imperfect ecosystem. But it’s
essential to earn business’ trust and build credibility. Try to
bring the teams closer to the business, so you don’t have to ask
business what the next use case is, you can anticipate it.”


“Another big thing is, how do you blend talent from outside the
industry with talent that actually understands the industry?” she
adds. “Having only one or the other isn’t ideal. You could have
the best data scientists in the world, but if they don't
understand the data and the context of the business you're in,
they won’t be successful.”