Five Tactics to Modernize Healthcare Data and Analytics

Data is one of healthcare’s most powerful assets; it helps us guide decisions with evidence, not intuition.

“Every time we use our IT systems, we’re contributing to the data lifecycle that makes informed choices possible,” says Albert Marinez, Cleveland Clinic’s Chief Analytics Officer.

Healthcare organizations are increasingly relying on high-quality data to make accurate, informed decisions that support efficiency, innovation, and long-term success.

“As healthcare evolves, so must the way we manage data,” Marinez explains. “Modern capabilities ensure that organizations have the systems, culture and infrastructure needed to make informed decisions at every level.”

Adopting modern capabilities means shifting data from outdated and isolated systems to secure, integrated, real‑time platforms. This transformation improves access to accurate information, strengthens care coordination and supports advanced analytics and AI with enhanced security.

Marinez says, “In the past, our data efforts were spread across many teams. While each group produced outstanding work, we needed shared standards and governance to better scale innovation.”

Cleveland Clinic’s path toward data modernization began by bringing data professionals together under one unified team: the Enterprise Data & Analytics office. This cohesive structure has strengthened governance and compliance while accelerating innovation across the health system.

The team’s objectives

These closely connected teams work together to ensure data is accessible, governed and actionable through:

• Analytics solutions: Deliver dashboards and tools that translate information into meaningful action.
• Data strategy and governance: Establish standards that keep data secure, consistent and trustworthy across the enterprise.
• Data platform engineering: Maintain the technical backbone enabling fast, integrated access to data.

“By keeping the engineering behind the scenes and the seamlessly accessible data at the forefront, our caregivers have the reliable information they need to achieve clinical and operational excellence,” says Marinez.

Transformative tactics

“Modernizing healthcare data is more than a tech upgrade.” Marinez explains, “It’s a holistic approach to building an infrastructure that simplifies decision-making, enhances patient experiences and fosters a data-driven culture across the organization.”

By unifying these experts, their combined work organically evolved into tactics that shaped the organization’s transition to data modernization.

Marinez explains, “While the unified governance provided the foundation for modernization, it’s the collaboration among these teams that drove the next steps by transforming fragmented, legacy systems into an integrated, real-time platform. This progression naturally defined the tactics needed for success.”

Try these five tactics to modernize data

1. Strengthen data strategy and governance
   Build a clear governance framework that ensures data is managed responsibly, consistently and securely. Caregivers and leaders across departments help shape standards that enable innovation within a well‑defined, governed structure.
   
   According to Marinez, “Our efforts advance the structured use of data and analytics to enhance patient care while prioritizing quality and safety in everything we do.”
2. Deliver trusted, consistent information
   Reliable data is essential for clinical, operational and financial decisions — especially as AI becomes increasingly embedded in workflows. High‑quality, contextualized data creates the semantic foundation that enables AI to deliver smarter insights and better decisions.
   
   “As AI becomes more integrated into our systems, reliable and contextualized data is essential for sound decision‑making across clinical, operational and financial areas. This includes adding clear meaning and context to data to enhance AI’s effectiveness,” says Marinez.
3. Build scalable, AI‑ready platforms
   Modern analytics requires cloud platforms like Snowflake to handle large data and advanced tools. Using a centralized platform delivers faster computing, real-time data sharing and stronger security.
   
   “Modern cloud platforms are built to handle massive datasets and support advanced tools,” Marinez says. “We recently moved over 25 years of data from Epic and other legacy systems into Snowflake. Now we’re able to process these large datasets and open the door to innovations like conversational analytics for clinicians.”
4. Make tools accessible for every user
   Different roles require different experiences. Caregivers need intuitive interfaces, while analysts need investigative tools. The goal is to make interacting with data as simple as using an app, while not compromising governance or security.
   
   Marinez explains, “Our caregivers and analysts need distinct types of support, so we build tools that range from simple interfaces to powerful analytical platforms.”
5. Foster a data‑driven culture
   A data‑driven organization chooses evidence over instinct. This approach encourages caregivers to use governed, secure data that boosts innovation and operational excellence.
   
   “By helping our caregivers understand and use governed, secure data, we hone our decision-making skills while unlocking new opportunities to optimize clinical and operational performance,” says Marinez.

Collectively, these tactics advance data‑driven healthcare that expands clinical insight, enhances operational performance and encourages patient‑centered innovation.

Data fuels better decisions

Building a unified, secure, and easy‑to‑use data ecosystem ensures that caregivers and leaders have the necessary information to deliver better patient care today while preparing for the next iteration of AI‑enabled, evidence‑driven healthcare.

In the end, Marinez says,“Data is essential to make informed clinical and operational decisions. It’s only with strong governance and reliable systems that we strengthen our promise to provide the best quality and safest care across the globe.”