HIPAA-Safe BI: 5 Best Healthcare Business Intelligence Tools

In the healthcare industry, protecting patient data while harnessing it for insightful analytics is a top priority. This article introduces the top 5 healthcare business intelligence (BI) tools that excel in both realms: offering powerful analytics capabilities and ensuring strict compliance with HIPAA regulations. 

How to Stay HIPAA-Compliant When Using BI in Healthcare?

Patient data is as sensitive as it is crucial. That's why before integrating business intelligence software into healthcare operations, implement robust data security and protection measures at every stage of the process — from collecting data to securely transferring it to a BI solution. 

At a high level, a data management and analytics solution must protect patient information from unauthorized access and usage. This is achieved by strict regulations on who gets access to patient data and what they can do with it.

If we dig deeper, a data management and analytics solution should have the following data privacy and security standards in place:

• Business Associate Agreements (BAAs): The BAA should outline how the vendor will protect the data and what they're allowed to do with it. 
• Robust encryption: The solution should have strong encryption measures to protect health information, both during transfer and while at rest. These measures ensure that even if the data is intercepted or accessed without authorization, it will be unreadable and therefore useless to the intruder. 
• Regular audits and risk assessments: Compliance is an ongoing process. The platform you go with should be tested by regular audits and risk evaluations to identify and address system vulnerabilities, ensuring ongoing adherence to HIPAA regulations.
• Breach notification procedures: A part of a robust security protocol is a plan of what to do if a breach occurs, and the first step is to notify you — the client, of an issue and ways to mitigate potential damage. 

Described above is a security protocol of Improvado, a HIPAA-compliant analytics suite, including a data management pipeline and healthcare marketing analytics solution.

The platform makes it easy for healthcare and wellness organizations to aggregate, store, and analyze data across all channels, audience segments, and geographic regions in a HIPAA-compliant manner. 

• Improvado centralizes data from over 500 data sources, including other HIPAA-compliant marketing tools, email, and files.
• The platform then brings these data to analysis-ready condition by applying data transformations (no-code and easy-to-use for non-technical marketers). 
• Improvado then securely pushes this data to healthcare business intelligence software. The platform has seamless integration with all BI solutions mentioned below.

5 Best Business Intelligence in Healthcare Industry

This guide highlights five leading business intelligence software for healthcare. Each tool is selected based on its ability to provide comprehensive insights and for its robust security features and HIPAA compliance, which are essential in handling sensitive patient data. 

1. Tableau

Tableau is one of the best business intelligence solutions within the healthcare sector. Notably, Tableau's adherence to HIPAA compliance safeguards sensitive patient information, aligning with the industry's stringent security and privacy standards.

Tableau interface is designed for ease of use, allowing for complex healthcare and marketing data to be navigated and analyzed effectively. 

The platform supports real-time data analysis, which is crucial for making informed decisions quickly—a key aspect in improving marketing outcomes and streamlining operational efficiencies. Tableau’s capability to generate interactive dashboards provides a visual representation of data trends, patterns, and discrepancies, aiding in the identification of potential areas for improvement within patient care and operational workflows.

Scalability is another significant aspect of this healthcare BI software. Tableau accommodates the vast and varied data needs of healthcare organizations. This flexibility ensures that as an organization grows or its data analysis requirements become more complex, Tableau can continue to meet these needs without a decrease in performance.

How does Tableau handle HIPAA compliance?

Tableau ensures HIPAA compliance through several security features and best practices, which makes it a perfect BI solution for healthcare.

• Data encryption: Tableau provides robust encryption options for data at rest and in transit. This includes encrypting extracts and using HTTPS for secure data transmission to prevent unauthorized access.
• Audit trails: The platform offers comprehensive audit trail capabilities, allowing organizations to track user activities, data access, and changes within the system. This feature is essential for monitoring compliance with HIPAA regulations and for conducting security audits.
• Access controls and authentication: Tableau supports strong access control mechanisms, including integration with enterprise authentication systems like Active Directory. This ensures that only authorized users can access sensitive healthcare data, and it allows for the implementation of role-based access controls (RBAC) to limit users' access to the data they need for their specific roles.
• Compliance certifications and agreements: Beyond its built-in features, Tableau also aligns with broader compliance frameworks and can participate in Business Associate Agreements (BAAs). 
• Secure deployment options: Tableau offers flexibility in deployment, including on-premises and cloud-based options, allowing organizations to choose the most secure and compliant environment for their data. For cloud deployments, Tableau ensures that its cloud services comply with HIPAA and other relevant security standards.
• Data de-identification: To further protect patient privacy, Tableau users can de-identify data, removing or encrypting personal identifiers to minimize the risk of privacy breaches. This practice is essential for using and sharing data responsibly within the healthcare BI tools.

2. Qlik

Qlik is another good choice for a healthcare BI solution. Qlik sets itself apart from other healthcare business intelligence platforms through its unique associative engine, which allows users to conduct in-depth analyses by intuitively exploring data connections across multiple sources instead of following predefined queries or linear exploration paths. 

This capability enables healthcare organizations to uncover insights that might be overlooked by linear data exploration methods found in other BI tools. It offers a more holistic understanding of patient care, operational efficiencies, and marketing management.

Qlik promotes a self-service model, empowering non-technical users within healthcare organizations to create customized reports and dashboards.  This democratization of data fosters a culture of informed decision-making, where insights are readily accessible to those who need them, from marketing analysts to decision-makers.

Moreover, Qlik's scalability caters to the growing data needs of healthcare enterprises, supporting them as they expand and adapt to new challenges. Its ability to integrate with multiple data sources and platforms ensures a cohesive and comprehensive view of information, critical for making strategic decisions in healthcare marketing and operations.

How does Qlik handle HIPAA compliance?

Qlik has a comprehensive set of security features to ensure adherence to HIPAA: 

• Data encryption: Like Tableau, Qlik employs strong encryption methodologies for data both at rest and in transit. 
• Audit trails: Qlik provides extensive audit trail functionalities, enabling healthcare organizations to monitor and record all user actions, data access, and system changes. 
• Dynamic data masking: Qlik's dynamic data masking capabilities allow organizations to obfuscate sensitive information based on user roles and permissions. This ensures that users can only see data they are authorized to access, a critical feature for maintaining patient confidentiality and complying with HIPAA.
• Centralized management console: Qlik's centralized management console facilitates comprehensive oversight of security policies and user access across the platform. This allows healthcare organizations to enforce consistent security measures, manage encryption settings, and review access logs, all of which are essential for HIPAA compliance.
• Section access: This advanced security feature enables fine-grained control over data visibility at the row level, similar to user filters, but with more nuanced implementation options. Section access can be used to restrict data access based on user credentials.

3. Power BI

Power BI is a business intelligence solution with deep integration capabilities, intuitive design, and comprehensive analytics features tailored for the healthcare sector. Its ability to seamlessly connect with various data sources, including electronic health records (EHRs), financial systems, and patient feedback tools, enables healthcare organizations to consolidate disparate data for a unified view of operations, patient care, and marketing efforts.

Power BI offers a wide variety of visualization options, from basic charts to complex diagrams, all customizable to fit the brand and reporting needs of the enterprise. The drag-and-drop functionality makes it accessible for non-technical users, while still offering depth for those who wish to dive deeper.

With built-in AI and machine learning features, Power BI enables users to forecast trends, identify patterns, and uncover insights that can lead to improved marketing outcomes and operational enhancements. These predictive analytics capabilities are particularly valuable for tailoring healthcare services and optimizing resource allocation.

How does Power BI handle HIPAA compliance?

Power BI addresses HIPAA compliance through a series of dedicated security features and protocols:

• Data encryption: Similar to other healthcare BI solutions mentioned earlier, Power BI ensures the security of patients' data by employing strong encryption for data both at rest and in transit. For data at rest, Power BI uses Azure's encryption services, providing a high level of security for stored data. For data in transit, Power BI ensures secure communication channels through HTTPS, safeguarding data exchange and preventing unauthorized access.
• Data loss prevention (DLP) policies: Power BI integrates with Microsoft 365 compliance solutions, enabling organizations to apply Data Loss Prevention (DLP) policies directly within the Power BI environment. These policies help prevent the accidental sharing of sensitive information, including Protected Health Information (PHI), ensuring that data handling practices comply with HIPAA regulations.
• Conditional access policies: Leveraging Azure Active Directory, Power BI allows for the implementation of conditional access policies that provide an extra layer of security. These policies can restrict access to Power BI resources based on user location, device status, and other conditions.
• Secure sharing and collaboration: Power BI enhances HIPAA compliance by providing secure mechanisms for sharing reports and dashboards. With features like row-level security (RLS) and the ability to publish reports to Power BI Apps or workspaces with controlled access, organizations can share insights derived from PHI without exposing underlying data, aligning with HIPAA's requirements for safeguarding patient information.

4. Sisense

Sisense serves the healthcare industry by offering a suite of analytics and data visualization tools designed to handle the sector's unique challenges.

Sisense's strength lies in its highly customizable dashboards and data visualization tools, which allow healthcare analysts to tailor analytics to specific organizational needs. These features facilitate the monitoring of key performance indicators (KPIs), such as patient care quality metrics, operational efficiency, and financial performance, enabling quick identification of trends and areas for improvement.

Beyond static datasets, Sisense offers live data connectivity, enabling real-time data analytics. This feature is particularly beneficial for healthcare facilities needing up-to-the-minute information.

Sisense's Marketplace extends its functionality with a variety of pre-built add-ons and integrations, ranging from advanced visualization widgets to AI-powered analytics tools. Healthcare organizations can leverage these to enhance their analytics capabilities further, incorporating specialized tools like geospatial analysis for patient demographic studies or machine learning models for predicting patient readmission rates.

How does Sisense handle HIPAA compliance?

Sisense addresses HIPAA compliance through a multi-faceted approach to security and data protection, including:

• Data encryption: Similar to other healthcare business intelligence solutions, Sisense implements stringent encryption protocols for data both at rest and in transit. For data at rest, Sisense uses industry-standard encryption methods to secure databases and backups. Data in transit is protected using secure transport protocols, such as HTTPS, to ensure that any data moving between servers and clients is encrypted.
• Data governance and compliance monitoring: Sisense supports healthcare organizations in establishing a strong data governance framework. This includes tools and protocols for managing data throughout its lifecycle, ensuring data integrity, and monitoring compliance with internal policies and external regulations like HIPAA. 
• Dedicated support for HIPAA compliance: Sisense offers specialized support to its healthcare clients to navigate the complexities of HIPAA compliance. This includes providing guidance on best practices for configuring the Sisense platform in a compliant manner, as well as offering resources and documentation that help organizations understand how to use Sisense safely within a regulated healthcare environment.
• Comprehensive data masking: Sisense allows for sophisticated data masking techniques, which are critical when working with protected health information (PHI). This feature enables healthcare organizations to anonymize patient data, ensuring that personal identifiers are obscured or removed when presenting data in reports or dashboards.

5. Domo

Domo is a versatile business intelligence platform that offers comprehensive solutions to the healthcare industry.

Domo's strength lies in its real-time data processing, allowing healthcare marketers to monitor campaigns and patient interactions as they happen. This immediacy helps in making agile marketing decisions, optimizing campaigns on the fly, and enhancing patient communication efforts with timely, relevant information.

With Domo, users can create dynamic, interactive dashboards to have visual representations of key performance indicators (KPIs), such as patient acquisition costs, conversion rates, and overall campaign ROI, facilitating data-driven strategy adjustments.

Similar to Sisense, Domo has a marketplace that offers pre-built apps and integrations, including healthcare-specific connectors that streamline data ingestion from electronic health records (EHRs), healthcare CRMs, and other industry-specific systems. This ecosystem enhances Domo's ability to provide tailored analytics solutions for healthcare marketing.

Beyond pre-built solutions, Domo empowers organizations to develop custom apps within its platform. This flexibility allows healthcare marketers to create bespoke solutions that address unique challenges, such as patient journey mapping or personalized healthcare campaign management.

How does Domo handle HIPAA compliance?

Domo's approach to HIPAA compliance incorporates a comprehensive array of security features and best practices:

• Data encryption: Domo employs advanced encryption for data both at rest and in transit. Utilizing AES-256 encryption for stored data and TLS protocols for data being transmitted, Domo ensures a high level of security against unauthorized access.
• Audit trails: The platform maintains detailed audit trails, recording every user action, data query, and system change. These logs are critical for monitoring compliance and facilitating the investigation of any potential HIPAA violations.
• Access controls: Domo implements strict access controls, requiring authentication and authorization for system access. Role-based access controls (RBAC) further ensure that users can only interact with data necessary for their roles, aligning with the minimum necessary use principle of HIPAA.
• User authentication: Incorporating strong user authentication mechanisms, including multi-factor authentication (MFA), Domo adds a layer of security to verify the identity of each user attempting to access the system.
• Data masking and anonymization: The platform supports data masking and anonymization techniques, crucial for de-identifying PHI to use in analytics without compromising patient privacy.
• Secure APIs: Domo's APIs are designed with security in mind, ensuring that any data exchange between Domo and other healthcare systems is conducted securely, maintaining the integrity and confidentiality of PHI.
• Incident response and breach notification: Domo has established a comprehensive incident response plan, including prompt breach notification procedures. 

Insightful Visualizations Start with Clear Data

Each of these healthcare business intelligence platforms will simplify complex data analysis and make discovering insights easier.

When making a decision, consider factors like company size, budget constraints, specific use cases, and the data analysis experience within your team.

But don't forget that business intelligence and data visualization start with making sure your data is well-organized and of high quality. That's where tools like Improvado step in. 

Improvado is a HIPAA-compliant marketing analytics solution that automates data aggregation from over 500 marketing and sales sources, streamlines data preparation, and seamlessly integrates with any BI solution mentioned on the list. 

Get a demo call to learn more about Improvado and how it can simplify business intelligence at an enterprise level.