Datawatch provides an ingenious solution to information management, integration, and synthesis by working from the outside inwards. Datawatch's Monarch technology reverse engineers the information in the text files that would otherwise be sent to be printed as a hardcopy, using the text file as input to drive further processing, aggregation, calculation, and transformation of data into usable information. The text files, PDFs, spreadsheets, and related printer input become new data sources. With no rekeying of data and no programming, business analysts have a new data source to build bridges between silos of data in previously disparate systems and attain new levels of data integration and cohesion.

For those enterprises running an ERP system for back office billing such as SAP or a hospital information system (HIS) such as Meditech, the task of getting the data out of the system using proprietary SAP coding or native MUMPS data store can be a high bar, requiring custom coding. Datawatch intelligently zooms through the existing externalization of the data in the reports, making short work of opening up otherwise proprietary systems.

Note that a trade-off is implied here. If your reporting is a strong point, Datawatch can take an installation to the next level, enabling coordination and collaboration, breaking down barriers between reporting silos that were previously impossible to bridge and doing so with velocity. Programming is not needed, and the level of difficulty is comparable to that of managing an excel spreadsheet targeting a smart business analyst. However, if the reports are inaccurate or even junk, even Datawatch cannot spin the straw into gold. You will still have to fix the data at its source.

Naturally, cross functional report mining works well in most verticals extending from finance to retail, from manufacturing to media, from the public sector to not for profit organizations. However, what makes healthcare a particularly inviting target is the relatively late and still on-going adoption of data warehousing combined with the immediate need to report on numerous clinical, quality and financial metrics such as the pending "Meaningful Use" metrics created via the HITECH Act. This is not a tutorial on meaningful use; however, further details can be found in a related article entitled "Game on! Healthcare IT Proposed Criteria on 'Meaningful Use' Weigh in at 556 Pages" click here. One of the goals of "meaningful use" in HIT is to combine clinical information with financial data in order to drive improvements in quality care, patient safety and operational efficiency while simultaneously optimizing cost control and reduction. The use of report mining and integration of disparate sources also allow the healthcare industry to migrate towards a pay-for-performance model, whereby providers will be reimbursed based on the quality and efficiency of care provided. However, financial, quality, clinical metrics and the evolving P4P models all require cross functional reporting from multiple systems. Even for many modern hospital information systems (HIS) that is a high bar. For those enterprises without an enterprise-wide data warehousing solution, no one is proposing to wait three to five years for a multi-step installation prior to learning the needed data still requires customization. In the interim, Datawatch has a feasible approach worth investigating.

In conversations with Datawatch executives John Kitchen (SVP Marketing) and Tom Callahan (Healthcare Product Manager), I learned that Datawatch has more than 1,000 organizations in the healthcare sector using Datawatch technology. Datawatch is surely a well kept secret, at least up until now. This is a substantial resource for best practices, methods and models, and lessons learned in the healthcare area. Datawatch can leverage these resources to its advantage and the benefit of its clients. While this is not a recommendation to buy or sell any security (or product), as a publicly traded firm, Datawatch is well positioned to benefit as the healthcare market continues its expansion. Datawatch provides a compelling business case with favorable ROI from the time of installation to the delivery of problem-solving value for the end user client. The level of IT support required by Datawatch is minimal, and sophisticated client departments have sometimes gone directly to Datawatch to get the job done.

Let's end with a client success story in HIT. Michele Clark, Hospital Revenue Business Analyst, Los Angles based Good Samaritan Hospital, comments on the application of Datawatch's Monarch Pro: "We simply run certain reports from MEDITECH's scheduling module, containing data for surgeries already scheduled, by location, by surgeon. We then bring those reports into Monarch Pro. Then, in conjunction with its powerful calculated fields, Monarch allows us to report on room utilization, block time usage and estimated times for various surgical procedures. The flexibility of Monarch to integrate data from other sources results in a customized, consolidated dataset in Monarch. We can then analyze, filter and summarize the data in a variety of ways to maximize the efficiency of our operating room resources. Thanks to Monarch, we have dramatically improved the utilization of our operating rooms, can more easily match available surgeons with required upcoming procedures, and better manage surgeon time and resources. Our patients are receiving the outstanding standard of care they expect, while we make the most of our surgical resources. This kind of resource efficiency is talked about a lot in the healthcare community. With Monarch, we are achieving it."  This makes Datawatch one to watch.