Healthcare

Importance of Data Literacy in Healthcare

As the healthcare industry becomes increasingly data-driven, data literacy has become increasingly important. At almost every level, today’s health workers must be able to understand and interpret data, and know how to use it to drive better decision-making and outcomes. From physicians and nurses to administrators and researchers, healthcare professionals rely on data to make informed decisions about patient care, treatment plans, and medical research. The impact of their decisions is greater than in any other industry. In order to succeed in a field where data plays an increasingly vital role, it is essential that healthcare employees have a strong foundation in data literacy. This will improve patient outcomes, allow innovation to continue, and promote better healthcare practices across the industry. Why understanding data is so crucial for healthcare Electronic record keeping and digital technologies have become the standard — even in the notoriously pen-and-paper-bound fields of patient care, medical research, and operations. Workers lacking data literacy skills will increasingly struggle to access, analyze, and interpret data. This will lead to less-informed decision making and, most likely, negative outcomes for patients. High data literacy, as we’ll explore, can also lead to significant cost savings, better quality control, and more evidence-based decision making — all of which improve the ability of healthcare organizations to do amazing work. Which employees need to be data literate? Since data is an integral part of modern healthcare, all employees across the board will benefit from data literacy. That said, data literacy is more directly relevant […]