Enhance Healthcare Analytics with Consumer Data

© 2018 Acxiom Corporation. All rights reserved. Acxiom is a registered trademark of Acxiom Corporation.
OPPORTUNITIES FOR USING DEMOGRAPHIC, LIFESTYLE AND
BEHAVIORAL DATA TO IMPROVE POPULATION HEALTH
Enhance Healthcare Analytics
with Consumer Data

2 | Enhance Healthcare Analytics with Consumer Data © 2018 Acxiom Corporation.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
»» To succeed in the new value-based care landscape, healthcare
providers must expand beyond traditional data sources for
healthcare analytics.
»» Leading providers are using consumer data, available at the
individual and household level, to supplement clinical and
claims data.
»» By integrating consumer insights into models for understanding
and predicting patient health, providers can improve the health
of Americans and achieve these outcomes:
• Improve community health needs assessments
• Drive patient retention and engagement with personalized
wellness programs
• Reduce patient readmission rates

CONSUMER DATA: THE MISSING
PIECE FOR HEALTHCARE INSIGHTS
Solving a puzzle requires strategically assembling all the pieces. In the healthcare industry, providers
cannot see the whole picture; they lack all the pieces required to generate a holistic understanding
of their patients. Traditionally, providers have used clinical and claims data to predict health risk; this
data only represents a fragment of the puzzle. Furthermore, for new patients and patients who do not
utilize their healthcare benefits, these pieces are even more scattered. Third-party consumer data
and insights help providers clarify the unique puzzles that patients represent, while enhancing overall
population health. New data sets, including consumer insights and social determinants of health,
act as those “missing links” to enhance predictive modeling and uncover hidden costs and risks that
cannot be identified through traditional data sources.
Consumer Data 101
For several decades, data has helped organizations understand, segment, target and engage
consumers with relevant messages and experiences. Similarly, in healthcare, analytics teams can
combine first-, second- and third-party data (see Table 1) to build population segments that can be
used for analytics, predictive modeling and targeted communications.
© 2018 Acxiom Corporation.
What is it?
Where does it
come from?
How is it acquired?
First-party
data
Protected health information
(PHI) and anonymous patient
interactions across digital
(e.g., website, mobile app) and
physical (e.g., hospital, clinic)
touch points.
Healthcare provider
Collected and owned by
the provider
Second-
party data
Common first-party data that
organizations share privately
for mutual benefit.
Partner organization
(e.g., payer, device or
wearable vendors)
Safe data exchange with a
partner that shares information
about common patients
Third-party
data
Aggregated consumer data in
categories like:
• Demographics (e.g., Gen X)
• Lifestyle (e.g., exercises
frequently)
• Behavioral propensities (e.g.,
likely to refill prescription)
Third-party consumer
data vendor
Purchased from a vendor
Table 1. The Fundamentals of Consumer Data
- Heidi West,
VP of Healthcare
Practice, Acxiom
Data holds the potential
to help transform the
U.S. healthcare system
as it transitions to value-
based care. Integrating
consumer data unlocks
the ability to measure non-
medical, socioeconomic
data to fill in major gaps
in health personas, and
to accurately predict
health risks.
“
“

INDUSTRY TRENDS
Value-based care makes population health a top priority. According to
the director of information technology for Northwell Health, a New York-based
provider, “Population health, in addition to community health, is our business
focus.” 2
As value-based care that incentivizes quality of care continues to
replace fee-for-service, providers are motivated to improve the health of their
patient population to address regulatory and financial needs.
Many providers lack access to social determinants of health. While
past history and demographics play an important factor in determining risk,
a patient’s social determinants of health (i.e., conditions where people live,
learn, work and play), if not considered, can negatively impact outcomes.
However, “today’s providers lack access to … population-level data on the
social determinants of health [that] could provide valuable insight to drive more
effective and equitable care.” 3
- HIMSS Media Lab
Today’s providers lack
access to … population-
level data on the social
determinants of health [that]
could provide valuable insight
to drive more effective and
equitable care.
“
“

INDUSTRY TRENDS
High healthcare costs influence consumer decisions. Many Americans now face
higher out-of-pocket costs due to insurance plans with high deductibles. According
to Money magazine, “Fast-forward to 2016, and high-deductible plans have become
standard: 51% of all covered workers, and 65% of workers in small firms, face deductibles
of at least $1,000. Workers at smaller firms must pay an average of $2,069 out of pocket
before insurance payments kick in, versus $1,238 for workers at firms with 200 or more
employees.” 4
Consequently, if consumers cannot afford to pay, they may delay or avoid
care. Given this reality, providers need to seek deeper insights about their population’s
financial and income situation as a contributor to negative outcomes. Patients who
struggle with high insurance premiums or deductibles may not comply with the behaviors
prescribed by their physician.
Leading providers leverage non-clinical data to enhance healthcare analytics.
According to Gartner, “Social determinants of health (which include data about education,
economics, criminal activity and the environment) are being used to refine risk models
and understand a patient’s propensity for events like a readmission through noncompliant
behavior (e.g., likelihood to take medication). This data needs to be obtained through
new sources, which, in turn, creates new partnerships and collaborations — relationships
that are part of the broader notion of community network resources management.” 5
For
example, Detroit-based Henry Ford Health System (HFHS) uses social determinants to
drive community outreach programs. To determine which patients should be connected
to community resources, HFHS identifies and assesses a broad array of socioeconomic
factors for patients, from ethnicity and the language they speak at home to housing
stability and access to reliable transportation.6
Patients who struggle
with high insurance
premiums or deductibles
may not comply with the
behaviors prescribed by
their physician.
“
“

INDIVIDUAL WEALTH INDICATORS TECHNOLOGY
• Age
• Gender
• Education
• Occupation
• Ethnicity
• Political party
• Highly likely investor
• Net worth indicator
• Discretionary income
• Household income
• PC owner
• High-speed internet user
• Technology adoption propensity
HOUSEHOLD PROPERTY VEHICLE
• Marital status
• Household size (children’s age
ranges if applicable)
• Smoker
• Veteran
• Single parent
• Length of residence
• Residence location
• Residence size
• Purchase date
• Home market value
• Available home equity
• Loan detail, type and date
• Home owner/renter
• Year/make/model
• Intent to purchase vehicle
INTERESTS LIFE EVENTS BUYING ACTIVITY
• Arthritis/mobility interest
• Exercise/health enthusiast
• Cholesterol focus in household
• Diabetic interest in household
• Disabled interest in household
• Orthopedic interest in household
• New parent
• New mover
• Newly divorced
• Newlywed
• Entering retirement
• Entering adulthood
• College graduate
• Food/wine
• Baby care products
• Health-med/alternative-med products
• Men’s apparel (big and tall)
• Women’s apparel (plus size, maternity)
CONSUMER DATA AND
HEALTHCARE ANALYTICS
Table 2. Sample of Consumer Data Available from Third-Party Vendors
(Highlighted data elements can be used for healthcare analytics)

KEY QUESTIONS: CONSUMER DATA
AND HEALTHCARE ANALYTICS
What does consumer data include?
Consumer data provides descriptive information about individuals and households. For example, Table 2 illustrates
a sample of key dimensions and data elements that are available from vendors specializing in third-party data.
Compared to other data sources, consumer data is available at the individual or household level to support analysis
that goes beyond the insights found in traditional data sets which may only be at the city or county level. Consumer
data may include propensities that represent integrated scores designed to predict consumer behavior (e.g.,
likelihood to travel abroad) as well as product and brand affinities (e.g., Apple device enthusiast).
Are there data elements that improve and enable healthcare analytics and social determinants of health?
The highlighted data elements in Table 2 can be used for healthcare analytics. In addition, lifestyle and behavioral
propensities, such as propensity to use certain medications, refill a prescription or use vitamins are also applicable.
This consumer data can be used to answer a wide range of questions about your community of patients, such as:
• What are my patients’ likely lifestyle preferences?
• What are my population’s risk characteristics?
• Who may be at risk for chronic conditions?
• Who is likely to switch health plans?
• Who may be a Medicare enrollee?
• Which channels are likely to be accessed for refills or to obtain medical insurance (e.g., phone, internet, offline)?
By answering these questions, providers shift their relationship with patients from the current state of addressing
acute health issues to an active dialogue. Furthermore, you can educate and enable patients to make choices that
lead them down a path of whole health outcomes.
© 2018 Acxiom Corporation.7 | Enhance Healthcare Analytics with Consumer Data

KEY QUESTIONS: CONSUMER DATA
AND HEALTHCARE ANALYTICS
Does the use of third-party consumer data for healthcare analytics comply with HIPAA?
For consumer data, the client’s privacy team or a trusted partner should conduct a privacy impact assessment (PIA)
for each use case and healthcare analytics scenario to ensure compliance. Leading vendors make this process
easier by offering HIPAA-compliant consumer data products that adhere to the HIPAA Privacy Rule to protect all
“individually identifiable health information” (i.e., protected health information, PHI) held or transmitted by a covered
entity or its business associate, in any form or media, whether electronic, paper, or oral.
What are the best methods for integrating consumer data with existing analytic models?
Consumer data is typically provided in a “flat file” format (e.g., CSV file) that can support multiple approaches for
data integration with existing data warehouses and healthcare analytic models. This data can complement clinical
and claims data, which are the primary inputs into analytic models.
What are the limitations of secondary data vs. consumer data?
In addition to first-party data, healthcare providers typically use secondary data (e.g., surveys, census data) for
community health needs assessments (CHNA). However, secondary data carries certain limitations. For example,
some data is only available at a city or county level, making an assessment of health needs at a neighborhood
level challenging. Furthermore, disaggregated data concerning age, ethnicity, race, and gender is not available for
all data indicators, which limits the ability to examine disparities of health within the community. Lastly, data is not
always collected yearly, meaning that some data is several years old.
In contrast, consumer data is available at the individual or household level to support more specific analysis about
your community and population of patients.

USE CASES AND OPPORTUNITIES
For providers, we see several opportunities for applying consumer data to achieve your organization’s goals:
• Improving community health needs assessments
• Driving retention with personalized wellness programs
• Reducing readmission rates with enhanced risk scoring models
In Table 3, we summarize the business need, approach, and relevant consumer data for each use case. Discuss these opportunities with your analytics
team and brainstorm additional use cases that apply to your organization.
Improving Community Health Needs
Assessments
Driving Retention with
Personalized Wellness Programs
Reducing Readmission Rates
with Enhanced Risk Scoring
Models
Business Need
Enhance studies for community health needs to
fuel the development of relevant outreach and
wellness programs
Personalize wellness programs based
on patient persona information and
their affinity for wellness and health-
related behaviors
Understand population subgroups
that are more likely to require
readmission post-discharge due to
non-compliance with follow-up care
and medication
Analytics
Approach
Better identify community health needs by utilizing
household-level and individual-level data
Combine your data with third-party
data to understand patient needs
and align wellness programs with
individual personas
Use demographic and lifestyle data
in risk scoring models to identify
patients who are more likely to
require readmission within 30 days
Relevant
Consumer Data
for Enhancing
Analytic Models
Individual: Education, occupation, ethnicity
Household: Presence of children, smoker, home
location
Interests: Exercise enthusiast, cholesterol focus,
diabetic interest
Life events: New parent, new mover, marriage/
divorce
Lifestyle/behavioral propensities: Propensity to
exercise, use certain medications
Interests: Exercise enthusiast,
cholesterol focus, diabetic interest
Lifestyle/behavioral propensities:
Propensity to exercise, use certain
medications, refill prescription
Buying activity: Organic foods,
alcohol and tobacco, gym
membership, weight loss
Individual: Education, occupation,
ethnicity
Household: Presence of children,
smoker, home location
Lifestyle/behavioral propensities:
Propensity to use certain
medications, refill prescription
Table 3. Healthcare Use Cases and Opportunities

THE RIGHT APPROACH TO CONSUMER DATA
Consumer data can help providers understand and improve value-based care for their patients. The
following approach outlines how to use this data in your organization:
1. Acquire: License access to third-party demographic, lifestyle, and behavioral data about consumers.
2. Assess: Conduct “privacy impact assessment” to determine HIPAA compliance for each use case
that includes consumer data.
3. Integrate: Integrate consumer data elements into existing or new analytic models.
4. Match: Ensure accurate matching of your first-party data (e.g., patient’s name, home address) with
third-party data (e.g., individual or household information) by using identity resolution technology that
can resolve changes caused by life events such as relocation, marriage, divorce, etc.
5. Analyze: Conduct analysis to understand which individuals, households or population groups should
be contacted for outreach, wellness and follow-up care programs.
6. Communicate and Engage: Partner with other teams to ensure patients receive timely and relevant
communications for healthcare programs.
7. Measure: Perform closed-loop measurement to understand the effectiveness of your analysis and
data models in supporting positive healthcare outcomes.

RECOMMENDATIONS
Expanding beyond traditional data sources with additional “puzzle pieces” allows
healthcare providers to advance their healthcare analytics by leaps and bounds. The
following recommendations can help you get started:
• Move beyond traditional data sets and explore the key dimensions and data
elements available with consumer data. As providers transition to a value-based
care model, they must also evolve their approach to obtaining and utilizing healthcare
insights. Providers at the forefront are already using consumer data to complement
their own data sets and to assemble a more comprehensive view of their patients. In
the future, wearable devices that collect personal health data may offer even more
insights about patient behavior.7
• Integrate consumer data and insights into models for understanding and
predicting patient health. Clinical and claims data provide a critical foundation for
healthcare insights, but providers need to incorporate social determinants to develop a
more complete picture of patient health. Integrating consumer data unlocks the ability
to measure non-medical, socioeconomic data to fill in major gaps in health personas,
and to accurately predict health risks.
• Use these insights to deliver proactive patient communications, wellness
programs and positive health outcomes. With consumer data-powered health
analytics, providers can deliver better value-based care. By obtaining deep insights
about your patients, you can more effectively deliver proactive communications and
engage them with personalized wellness programs. Ultimately, your goals of achieving
positive outcomes such as a healthier patient population can be realized.
With consumer data-
powered health analytics,
providers can deliver better
value-based care.
“
“
- Acxiom

12 | The Age of the Omnichannel Integrator © 2017 Acxiom Corporation.
ACXIOM: YOUR PARTNER FOR HEALTHCARE SOLUTIONS
Aspirations toward a single view of the patient start with the right identity. Acxiom Healthcare Solutions help clients harness the powerful
potential of data to strengthen connections and determine identity throughout the continuum of care between patients, providers and
payers. Acxiom Healthcare Solutions makes it easy and safe to use people-based information to deliver relevant data-driven solutions
for patient engagement. Acxiom provides industry-leading identity management and deeper data insights to power opportunities in
today’s value-based healthcare environment.
© 2018 Acxiom Corporation. All rights reserved. Acxiom is a registered trademark of Acxiom Corporation.
VISIT: https://www.acxiom.com/healthcare/
EMAIL: info@acxiom.com
References
1,5
“Gartner Healthcare Analytics Framework for Healthcare CIOs,” Gartner, August 2017
https://www.gartner.com/doc/3778467/gartner-healthcare-analytics-framework-healthcare
2
“The past, present and future of population health,” MedCity News, October 2017
https://medcitynews.com/2017/10/population-health/
3
“The Opportunities and Challenges of Population Health,” HIMSS Media Lab, 2017
http://www.healthcareitnews.com/himss-infocus/population-health
4
“Here’s What’s Happened to Health Care Costs in America in the Obama Years,” Money.com, October 2016
http://time.com/money/4503325/obama-health-care-costs-obamacare/
6
”Population health is in a major state of change,” Healthcare IT News, October 2017
http://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/population-health-major-state-change
7
“Using Wearable Fitness Devices to Monitor More Than Just Fitness,” Scientific American, May 2017
https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/using-wearable-fitness-devices-to-monitor-more-than-just-fitness/

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