Michelle de Groot has been working as a Healthcare IT Advisor at Arkin for five years now. As a project manager, she was closely involved in the implementation of Admission24. She is currently active within the Data & Architecture team, where she is also tackling questions around capacity optimisation. We spoke with her about the steps Arkin is taking with data and her perspective on its future.
“Absolutely! After being involved in various projects as a project manager, I made a switch and became a data engineer. Initially, I was programming almost full-time and missed interacting with colleagues. Now I’ve created a nice combined role for myself, allowing me to work on projects at the intersection of healthcare and data.
I do this within the Data & Architecture team. It’s really great that a mental health organisation such as Arkin has a dedicated data team. Many organisations might have just a single ‘data person’, but the fact that we get to work with a whole team on Arkin’s data foundation is pretty unique.”
“We have some really excellent people on board who have a clear vision on data and digitalisation. I’ve noticed this in multiple projects, and it all starts there.
I also think it helps that subsidies and other support are made available by the government. This creates space for innovative projects. For example, the IZA [Integrated Care Agreement] funds were recently awarded, which encourage data-driven working and the use of AI and chatbots. If you have the right people who seize these opportunities, you can really make progress.”
“Right now, we’re working on the foundation: making sure it’s clear what meaning should be assigned to which data, ensuring that data is accurate, and setting up dashboards. The foundation need to be solid – without that, you have nothing. We expect to go live with this in September. Then we can start collecting the right data, which will eventually allow us to perform analyses and spot trends.
From the perspective of the admission process, we’ll be using the new version of DataWarehouse24, combined with Admission24 of course. This new version allows us to work with larger amounts of structured data in real-time, enabling more possibilities for reporting, but also in other areas. Initially, we want to extract data from Admission24 forms for text analysis and do more with lab values. Later, we also plan to build historical records using mutation times, which will help in spotting trends. DataWarehouse24 is very neatly designed, so all of this will be possible!”
Curious about the possibilities of DataWarehouse24? Check out this page!
“What we really want is to look for indicators of trends. This could be anything. For example, we know that in a certain branch of Arkin, the risk of relapse after admissions is relatively high – we’d like to understand why this is and whether, for instance, the risk of another relapse is lower if you intervene quickly after an earlier relapse. Perhaps some admissions could even be prevented in the future.
We’re also already investigating no-shows – if there’s a timely intervention, like an extra phone call, does this help prevent no-shows? This research is currently focused on appointment schedules, but we also want to explore it for admissions.
Another scenario involves transfers, where clients sometimes stay longer than necessary. However, we don’t yet have a clear picture of the exact numbers and associated lengths of stay, nor do we have data on risk indicators – which characteristics are predictive for such scenarios? Those are the questions we want answers to.”
“Ultimately, all the scenarios we want to explore are aimed at improving outcomes for our clients – we want to shorten waiting lists and ensure that clients get to the right place as quickly as possible and receive the appropriate care.
This is also beneficial for our staff. They can focus on working with the clients they are best equipped to help.
For the organisation as a whole, it’s about the bigger picture: having the right management information at your disposal, with the assurance that it reflects the truth. This enables better planning and forecasting. Additionally, preventing certain admissions can potentially lead to reduced costs.”
“It might be a really boring answer, but start at the beginning, haha! But yeah, this is the core. Make sure your data foundation is in order and accurate. Decide what you want to use the data for, and you’ll quickly see what’s needed to achieve that.
Also, ensure proper data registration. The more specific, the better! Too often, too much information ends up in an ‘other’ field – then you have to refine the basics to make it more useful. It also helps to gather plenty of input from colleagues on the floor – don’t rely solely on how management thinks things are done; verify with the people doing the work on a daily basis.
In addition, I would recommend starting by visualising those scenarios that you feel will have the greatest impact. Once the data is available, you can increasingly make such decisions based on measurable impact.”
Does your organisation also want to start digitalising and then optimising the admission process using data? We’d be happy to tell you more about Admission24 and DataWarehouse24!