Meet Kamal Aryal – Data Analyst, Performance and Outcomes Service

Welcome to our Staff Spotlight where we introduce our great teams who work tirelessly to support ACHS Members.

Can you tell us about your role as a Data Analyst in the Performance & Outcomes team?  
As a Data Analyst at ACHS, I bridge the gap between complex clinical data and actionable healthcare improvements. My role focuses on the Performance Data Program, specifically supporting our Clinical Indicator Program (CIP) Members. I manage the end-to-end data lifecycle — from designing database structures and objects, perform routine data cleaning, and automating ETL (Extract, Transform and Load) processes to detect data anomalies and improve data quality, perform trend analysis and create customised benchmarking reports for our key hospital groups. Ultimately, I ensure that the data hospital groups receive is accurate, insightful, and ready to drive quality clinical outcomes.

What does a typical day look like?
A typical day is a mix of catering to varied data and analytical requests from our clients, technical data management, new and innovative features in our Metrik system and analytics platforms, and routine stakeholder liaison and collaboration.

I might start my morning with responding to ad hoc data requests from internal and external stakeholders and monitor data completeness, integrity and data quality to ensure our bi-annual Clinical Indicator Program data submissions are processing smoothly. By midday, I could be working on improvising systems and technical processes to drive automation for improved productivity, efficiency, and continually work towards an enhanced user-experience on data collection and improve performance of analytics engine. The afternoon is often dedicated to building or optimising data models and generating customised reports for major hospital groups. It’s a dynamic role where I’m constantly looking for ways to refine our backend and analytics platform for a better user experience.

ACHS has been working with healthcare performance data for more than 33 years. From your perspective, what makes data so powerful for driving improvement?
Data is the 'objective voice' of healthcare. With ACHS's 33-year legacy, we see that data provides the evidence-based foundation needed to move from anecdotal observations to concrete improvements. It allows healthcare providers to see where they stand relative to peers through benchmarking. When you have a clear longitudinal view of clinical indicators, you can identify trends, predict risks, and ultimately implement changes that save lives and improve patient care standards. Data turns uncertainty into clarity.

What’s one interesting or unexpected insight you’ve gained from supporting healthcare organisations through data?
One of the most powerful insights I've gained is how much the 'cleanliness' and structure of data impact the frontline. We often think of data as abstract numbers and often tend to overlook the underlying structural foundation for its storage and processing for analytics platforms. Well-structured data stored in a relational database, with a carefully built data-model, could significantly improve analytics engine performance and provide seamless user experience. Furthermore, from my past experiences and observations from managing varied form of clinical database and analytics dashboards, I have found that a well-built application with fore-sightedness on future scalability and performance in mind, ends up being more robust and long-lasting platforms with minimal bugs and interruptions in the  long run to deliver a better and smooth user experience to healthcare organisations and relevant stakeholders.

What’s a healthcare topic that interests you?
I am deeply passionate about the intersection of Artificial Intelligence and data pipeline automation. My goal is to build structures, processes, and pipelines that are automated and dynamically driven with an aim to improve productivity, efficiency and scalability in mind. I'm particularly interested in how we can use AI to automate the more administrative aspects of data management—like data flows and continuous data quality improvement—to free up time for deeper outcome analysis that directly benefits our internal staff and external clients and Members (i.e., healthcare organisations).

How do you practice self-care and maintain work-life balance?
I find that continuous learning is a form of self-care; it keeps my mind sharp, evolving and engaged. However, maintaining balance is equally vital. I make it a priority to disconnect from the screens and data pipelines to spend quality time with my family and community during after-hours, weekends and holidays. Whether it's playing soccer every week with local friends, few minutes of walk in the nature every day, going on an adventure exploring new places and landmarks with family every few months, and creating that space between 'clinical data' and 'life' ensures I return to work with fresh perspective and renewed energy. The flexibility offered by this organisation has been very helpful in maintaining a good work-life balance.

Thank you, Kamal, for sharing your insights and experience with us. We look forward to bringing you further Staff Spotlight articles in the future and showcasing the incredible talent that we foster at ACHS.