CHICAGO, Oct. 22, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Strata Decision Technology (Strata), a pioneer and leader in the development of cloud-based financial planning, analytics and performance tools for healthcare, today launched StrataSphere™, a unique data-sharing network and platform powered by machine learning leveraging the most comprehensive and granular dataset on the cost of healthcare.
Introduced today at Strata’s Lift19 user conference, StrataSphere will leverage trillions of data points across the 200 healthcare delivery systems and over 1,000 hospitals that use Strata’s cloud-based StrataJazz® platform to deliver advanced analytics, insights, benchmarks and industry-level standards. The initial roll-out of StrataSphere included over 60 health systems serving more than 35 million patients representing approximately 10% of the provider spend in U.S. healthcare. It is now being made available to all Strata customers at no cost on an opt-in basis. The Strata customer network represents approximately 25% of the provider spend in U.S. healthcare.
The cost of U.S healthcare is approaching $4 trillion in 2019 with the level of waste in the system now estimated to be close to $1 trillion a year. With over 50% or close to $2 trillion in healthcare spend taking place in hospitals and physician practices, healthcare providers are in a unique position to help reduce waste and lower the cost of care.
“The biggest problem in healthcare and our nation’s economy is the rising cost of care. While there is an enormous amount of waste in the system, there is also a significant level of opportunity to drive improvements by collaborating and sharing data in a way that makes a difference,” said Dan Michelson, Chief Executive Officer of Strata. “StrataSphere is a breakthrough, providing hospitals and health systems the unique ability to leverage the best practices and insights of their peers, collaborate to conduct research to help bend the cost curve and better steward resources for their organization and the community that they serve.”
StrataSphere Leverages the Industry’s Deepest Dataset on the Cost of Care
StrataSphere utilizes the trillions of data points already in StrataJazz, the company’s cloud-based solution for financial planning, analytics and performance, and requires no additional data submission and no upfront mapping. Rated #1 in KLAS for Decision Support, Strata is recognized as the “gold standard” in healthcare for cost accounting. Leveraging the most advanced costing methodologies including Time-Driven Costing™ , Strata customers have the ability to understand cost and margins across episodes of care, service lines and patient populations throughout an entire delivery network including hospitals, physician groups and post-acute care. This level of detail on the actual cost of care, not charges or claims, is unique and provides a level of visibility into the direct resources that are utilized, pinpointing opportunities to reduce variation, eliminate waste and improve quality.
StrataSphere provides cross-customer and cross-industry analytics along with advanced capabilities including:
- Benchmarking of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
- Industry Insights and Comparative Analytics
- Predictive Modeling
- Development of Financial Standards
StrataSphere Addresses the Shortfalls of Other Comparative Benchmarking Tools
Existing comparative analytics and benchmarking solutions fall short in helping providers to understand and address their cost challenges. Many rely primarily on poorly vetted public datasets. This lack of detailed source data makes apples-to-apples benchmarking on the cost of care impossible. These systems also derive costs inaccurately, if at all, and often are driven by claims or charge-based datasets rather than the accurate, actionable and detailed cost information needed to identify waste and drive out cost. StrataSphere addresses each of these failures by delivering:
- Actionable Data: StrataSphere’s data platform is unique based on its scale, level of granularity and rigorous data cleansing. Every line item and field is screened, scanned and validated using the latest machine learning tools. Data can be translated and analyzed simultaneously and identically across departments, patient populations, service lines, episodes and entity structures.
- Access to Unique, Reliable, Contextual Data: One-hundred percent of the data used in StrataSphere is the identical source data that organizations are using to make day-to-day business decisions within StrataJazz.
- Normalized and Standardized Data at the Line-Item Level: StrataSphere leverages machine learning, natural language processing, and predictive analytics to normalize, map and clean data across tens of billions of records and trillions of dollars of total spend. Cost components, general ledger, job code, patient charge and other line item-level data is available for deep analytics. StrataSphere integrates customer- and industry-level service line, episode, social determinants, clinical norms and other strategic and value-based analytical models.
- Detailed Cost Data: StrataSphere makes use of detailed patient-level costing and can integrate all datasets used to achieve Level 7 on the HFMA-Strata L7™ Cost Accounting Adoption Model, with algorithmic models validated across Strata’s customer base.
- Collaborative Testing Ground: StrataSphere can be used as a testing ground for an organization’s self-developed statistical models, or to simply answer questions emerging from their data.
- Faster Research Results: For organizations that lack the volume or diversity of patients to produce statistically significant research results, StrataSphere provides a sizeable dataset for faster analytics and better decision making.
StrataSphere benchmarking and advanced visualization tools identify opportunities, trends, risks and threats that may not be visible when examining an organization’s own data with traditional tools. Uses range from productivity, operating ratios, cost comparisons, supplies, and investment, to fixed and variable costing. StrataSphere’s national dataset enables predictive models that help CFOs to analyze future scenarios such as competing in value-based and capitated models and operating at Medicare reimbursement margins.
“As the U.S. healthcare system transitions to value-based payment models and to actively managing the total cost of care, provider organizations need a reliable, transparent and actionable means of benchmarking, identifying areas of waste and improving their financial performance,” said Steve Lefar, Executive Director of the StrataSphere initiative. “Health systems that lack access to data, how they compare to others and what they can do to bend the cost curve will really struggle to survive. We believe StrataSphere is a critical part of the answer.”
For Strata clients, there is no cost to join StrataSphere. Benchmarking, industry insights and access to the Strata Standards are all included.
About Strata Decision Technology
Strata Decision Technology provides a cloud-based planning, analytics and performance platform that is used by healthcare providers for financial planning, decision support and continuous improvement, helping hospitals and healthcare systems bend the cost curve and drive margin to fuel their clinical mission. Founded in 1996, the Company's customer base includes over 1,000 hospitals and many of the largest and most influential healthcare delivery systems in the U.S. The Company's headquarters are located in Chicago, IL. For more information, please visit www.stratadecision.com.
Media contact:
Todd Stein
Todd Stein Communications
510-417-0612
todd@toddsteincommunications.com