Data and analytics have been a game changer in Guardian Pharmacy’s long-term care and service expertise. Our Business Intelligence team is playing an integral role in discovering ways to improve operating margins and efficiencies, ultimately providing better service.
How Guardian Uses Data & Analytics
Director of Business Intelligence and Analytics, Mick Holbrook, spearheaded the development of key data models over the past four years. This has led to data being used at all levels of our pharmacies. For example, through strategically deployed dashboards, Guardian Pharmacy uses data and analytics as a performance indicator to detect problems in operational and financial measurements. On a day-to-day basis, various pharmacy staff use the data models Mick and his team created to monitor key indicators, e.g., revenue, cost of sales, script count, and number of patients. We also use data for forecasting and business planning.
The real power of our analytics is the opportunity to review and compare information over a period of time to help spot trends, allowing us to recommend appropriate actions based on those trends. This forecasting helped us uncover disturbing and unsustainable trends in third party reimbursements. In conjunction with Senior Care Pharmacy Coalition, we are using these insights to educate the public, PBM’s, policy makers, and the broader healthcare community about the value long-term care pharmacies bring to the healthcare system, while at the same time exploring ways to strengthen their economic viability.
From l to r: Kirby Huecker, Business Intelligence intern; Ignacio Rossani-Ortega, Business Intelligence analyst; Mick Holbrook, director of Business Intelligence and Analytics.
What’s next for the Business Intelligence Team?
In June and July, in coordination with the Business Intelligence Society of Atlanta, Guardian’s Business Intelligence team will host a series of bootcamps on the statistical software called R. R is a highly extensible language and environment for statistical computing and graphics that Guardian uses to build our data models. Attendees will consist of Atlanta area business intelligence professionals, data analysts, and data scientists. The bootcamps will provide attendees with an opportunity to learn from each other and collaborate on ways to use data.
