The Agency of the Future - "Lean Decision Intelligence" Featuring Anthony Alcaraz, Aldecis

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Introduction

By Heather Thompson

As the HH-PPS system arrived on the cusp of the millennium, I started my career in home health. Although I literally grew up in healthcare, home care was different. Aptly described by a mentor as either "a big, small world" or "a small, big world," this sentiment resonates even today. The home health sector, comprising providers, consultants, tech firms, and more, is a closely bonded community.

Shortly after joining OCS in 1999, I was introduced to the vast potential of data beyond OASIS-compliance software. The broader industry was still warming up to this idea, but Amanda, the company's visionary leader, foresaw the imperative of benchmarking.

During a Senior Management Team discussion, the term "Business Intelligence" surfaced, encapsulating the vision for what was to come. We immediately shifted our terminology from home health OASIS and outcomes reporting to "business intelligence."

Our goal: help organizations understand that it is only meaningful if it is actionable.

Two Decades Later...

Twenty years is a lifetime in technology, yet many concepts discussed in those early days at OCS are still relevant. With the arrival of AI, the key difference between then and now lies in the speed, complexity, and accessibility of information. Increasingly complex analyses had to be run by hand and were limited by the available data.

Today I am amazed at what AI can do in seconds. A distinguished expert from France, whom I have the privilege of engaging with, discussed the shift from BI to AI in a recent LinkedIn article. In it, Anthony Alcaraz introduces "Lean Decision Intelligence" — a fusion of AI capabilities with lean methodologies to refine decision-making processes. I am pleased to share his insights here, reprinted with his permission.

Beyond Consolidated Data: Advantages of AI-Powered Business Intelligence

by Anthony Alcaraz, Chief AI Officer & Decision Scientist, Aldecis

Modern organizations rely heavily on business intelligence (BI) tools to consolidate and analyze data. However, overdependence on manual analysis of consolidated datasets can obscure valuable insights and prevent timely action.

Here are some of the major pitfalls of traditional BI approaches:

Consolidating data from multiple sources inevitably leads to a loss of granularity. Nuances get glossed over, and vital details can get buried.
Seeing consolidated ratios causes users to focus only on numerators while ignoring informative denominators.
Trends in aggregated data may be the opposite of trends in its disaggregated components. Consolidation can therefore produce misleading perspectives.
Traditional drill-down analysis depends on the manual work of analysts. This not only takes time but can also lead to overlooking key insights in large datasets.
When analysts manually comb through data, they bring their own limited biases and may miss indicators outside their focus.
Consolidated datasets rely heavily on historical data. However, past performance does not always predict future trends.

All of This Contributes to Delayed Actions

The manual process inserts lags between raw data and actionable insights. This delay can result in missed opportunities and compounding losses:

Missed growth opportunities as market conditions shift
Failure to address emerging customer pain points, leading to churn
Inability to respond to new competitor initiatives
Late adjustments to supply chain or operations issues
Knock-on effects from uncontrolled propagation of risks
Depreciation of insights through rapidly changing business dynamics
Inaccurate shaping of historical reporting by overlooking recent signals

The longer the delay between data availability and insight generation, the lower the value of any findings. In fast-moving markets, data has a short shelf-life. The insights that could have informed game-changing moves evaporate when action is not immediate. Manual analysis simply cannot keep pace with the speed of business. By the time analysts generate findings, the window for capitalizing on those insights may have already closed.

Enter Lean Decision Intelligence (LDI)

Lean Decision Intelligence (LDI) is an AI-powered, user-collaborative approach that merges lean methodology with cutting-edge decision science. This produces a dynamic, action-oriented insight engine designed for rapid, impactful business decisions.

In an LDI model, AI algorithms meticulously scan the client's data warehouse, capturing all informational nuggets — including those often overlooked by traditional, manually managed dashboards, simultaneously spanning only limited dimensions.

Next, "Lean Reporting" highlights key findings on a single page. The report prioritizes client insights and deciphers them into understandable language through explainable AI. Finally, it aids in identifying root causes and preparing for corrective action plans and initiatives.

Note that the AI technology described in this article is only available for certain multinational organizations. However, it provides insight into emerging tools that will soon be offered in healthcare. As providers, we should keep an eye on the edges of innovation to identify potential opportunities and concerns. Consider looking at the Aldecis website and following Anthony on LinkedIn, as he is among many thought leaders sharing daily insights. aldecis.com

About Heather Thompson

Heather Thompson joined the Home Care Technology Report in March 2023 with a focus on Artificial Intelligence, Growth Strategy, and The Agency of the Future. Having earned her reputation as a Healthcare Futurist, Heather brings over three decades of experience in the healthcare sector. She has dedicated 25 of those years to home healthcare, delving deep into diverse domains such as business intelligence, technology, association management, provider consulting, sales/marketing/business development, strategic planning, financial management and more. Heather has also walked the path as a caregiver and a patient. This rich tapestry of experiences brings invaluable insight to her reporting.

However, there's more to Heather than her professional achievements. A peek into Heather's story reveals her as an acquired savant and polymath. She is an internationally published writer, award-winning artist and poet, contemplative theologian, seasoned entrepreneur and a passionate advocate for disability and rare diseases. In her downtime, Heather finds solace in her serene mountainside home near Seattle, sharing her life with her teenage daughter, bulldog Iggy, cats Maximus and Buggs, and the abundant wildlife just outside her door.

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