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Create Data Storytelling
to Fuel Better
Healthcare Outcomes

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Health Catalyst Editors

Article
Summary
Even in a data-driven healthcare ecosystem, analytic
insights alone won’t sufficiently drive outcomes. Instead,
the content behind these numbers, the data story, fuels
real transformation. The Healthcare Analytics Summit
2022 explored the human side of data and the people
and communities behind the healthcare outcomes.

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Create Data Storytelling to Fuel Better Healthcare Outcomes
When most healthcare professionals hear “data,”
they likely picture charts and dashboards. But
data done right tells a much more compelling
story; one that includes context, history, and
even emotion and creates a narrative about the
patients, communities, and care teams behind it.
The 2022 Healthcare Analytics Summit (HAS 22)
explored the human side of analytics, asserting
that without a human element, even the most
advanced data and analytics techniques won’t
sufficiently drive outcomes. One significant way
the healthcare community can humanize its data
is by looking beyond the metrics and seeing the
larger story—the people behind the numbers
and findings and what matters most to them.
Human Side of Analytics

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Create Data Storytelling to Fuel Better Healthcare Outcomes
Whether from a healthcare leadership perspective—such as Penny Wheeler, MD, former CEO, Allina
Health—or a creative viewpoint—such as Matthew Luhn, former Lead Animator and Storyteller, Pixar
Studios—storytelling emerged as an indispensable tool in creating data-driven outcomes.
Story Means Seeing the Whole Patient
Penny Wheeler - HAS 22 - Patient Wisdom

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Build Trust

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Build Trust
While the COVID-19 pandemic response
initially put healthcare data in the spotlight,
it was the stories behind the analytic insights
that heightened the public and industry
awareness. To understand the pandemic
challenges, providers and customers needed
real context around the people and places
confronting the virus.
Context

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Build Trust
For example, Dr. Wheeler shared that as
Allina Health was in the early months of the
COVID-19 response, in May 2020, George
Floyd was murdered in a part of Minneapolis
close to the health system’s headquarters.
The resulting wave of civil unrest further
taxed the organization and its community
logistically and emotionally as protests and
riots swept through the city.
Dr. Wheeler’s Example

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Build Trust
Responding to the aftermath of the George Floyd murder amid the pandemic.
Dr. Wheeler’s Example
Penny Wheeler - HAS 22 - Saving Staff, Patients, and Equipment

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Build Trust
While the data showed operational, clinical, and financial performance through this
period, the context of George Floyd’s murder added a human layer to the information.
The story gave magnitude to the data and became the driver of Allina’s pledge to fight
COVID-19 and racism—the “why” behind a person-centered improvement initiative with
the following aims:
 Provide quality healthcare to all.
 Employ and promote diverse groups.
 Invest in the right things, people, and populations.
 Understand community needs and how to best partner with it.
Dr. Wheeler’s Example

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Build Trust
That pledge by Allina and others led to a comprehensive scorecard for patient-reported
outcomes with the following attributes:
 Psychometrically sound.
 Person-centered.
 Meaningful to the person.
 Amenable to change.
 Implementable.
By looking for the story behind data, Allina separated the “why” from the “what,” a key
element in building trust among care teams, provider trust in the data, and true patient
engagement. The story explained the more significant goal to everyone using the data.
Dr. Wheeler’s Example

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Create Meaning

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Create Meaning
As healthcare leaders like Dr. Wheeler
recognize the importance of telling a story
with their data, they can look to other
industries to understand how to create
rich, compelling narratives. This is where
Luhn came in at HAS 22. “Story is king,” he
explained. It’s what makes information
meaningful and what sticks with people.
Story Is King

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Create Meaning
Luhn advised attendees to wrap data in a
story that’s personal and impactful. Like
Dr. Wheeler’s account of the George Floyd
murder hitting Allina’s community during
the pandemic, the human perspective on
the health system’s environment gives
audiences meaning behind any analytics
insight. If, for example, metrics showed an
emergency department surge in May
2020, data users would understand the
context around the numbers and create a
better-informed response.
Story Is King

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Create Meaning
Story, explained Luhn, drives people to
make decisions based on how the
narrative makes them feel. Humans tend
to make decisions when someone or
something impacts their emotions. The
data can help rationalize and guide the
decision, but the personal connection
drives the action. Furthermore, universal
stories—the desire for love, safety, or
freedom or the fear of failure or
abandonment—connect across ages,
genders, and cultures. Numbers and
reports are less likely to drive meaningful
change than understanding the people
and circumstances behind them.
Story Is King

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Humanize Healthcare Experience

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Humanize Healthcare Experience
Telling a story with and around data, said Dr.
Wheeler, keeps people at the center of healthcare
decision making. “Never forget whom you’re serving
and why,” she stated, making the case for keeping the
personal and emotional aspects along with the data.
Luhn echoed Dr. Wheeler’s sentiment when he
explained that people will remember how stories
made them feel. And the best story will always win.
Telling a Story

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