What does it mean to be a data-driven organization? What are the advantages of achieving this status? How can my organization get there? These are all great questions, but they are outnumbered by the eight common pain points every healthcare system encounters along the way: Conflicting versions of the truth Lacking a culture that supports data transparency A lack of trust in the data Data volume and overload Struggling to find an effective system “We already tried that” A dearth of data-savvy staff Lack of executive sponsorship Anticipating and absorbing those pain points is part of the secret to success. This article explores them further, as well as the advantages of letting data guide critical healthcare business decisions.

1. How to Avoid the 8 Most
Common Pain Points in
Becoming a Data Driven
Healthcare Organization
― Mike Doyle

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Being Data Driven
The pursuit of knowledge
often requires investment, but
the costs of not having the
information you need when
you need it can be far greater.
The price of light is less than
the cost of darkness.”
― A.C. Nielsen

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Being Data Driven
Data as a driver of organizational
strategy and leadership isn’t just
a recent trending topic.
International business runs on
data-driven leadership, and, of
course, the world of finance has
always been data rich and data
dependent.
What’s not easy to detect is the pragmatic insight a health-
care organization needs to become data driven.

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Advantages of Being Data Driven
The characteristic advantages of being
data-driven are found across many
areas of the organization.
For example:
Data-driven organizations look for
data that supports the mission, thus
ensuring its continuity and support-
ing the culture. If your mission is to
care for patients, you want data that
is in the best interest of patients.
Being Data Driven

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Advantages of Being Data Driven
The characteristic advantages of being
data-driven are found across many
areas of the organization.
For example:
Data illuminates opportunities for
improvement, and can help to avoid
duplication of effort, unnecessary
costs, and repeat performances of
poor prior performance.
Being Data Driven

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Advantages of Being Data Driven
The characteristic advantages of being
data-driven are found across many
areas of the organization.
For example:
A data-driven company realizes
fewer disruptions of operations,
such as those that can arise from
internal politics.
Being Data Driven

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Advantages of Being Data Driven
The clinical advantages are
obvious. If medicine were not
data driven, and clinicians
routinely ignored the evidence
showing the benefits of the
treatments they prescribe,
we’d be back in the days of the
Health Jolting Chair and Dr.
Bonker’s Egyptian Oil.

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Advantages of Being Data Driven
Leaders in a data-driven
organization depend on the
light of data, rather than just
their own expertise and
opinion, to drive the bus.
They realize that the company
runs best when its employees
know where they have been,
where they are, and where
they are headed.

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8 Pain Points toward Becoming a
Data Driven Healthcare Organization
Often two groups from the
organization will use similar
sets of data, but arrive at
different conclusions because
of differences in the data.
Departments need to agree on
the fundamental nouns or the
“whats” of the organization in
order to scope analyses and
arrive at similar conclusions.

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8 Pain Points toward Becoming a
Data Driven Healthcare Organization
To fully realize the power of
data, it must be available to
those who need it.
It’s not always comfortable to
share, especially if the data
has quality issues.
Leadership should embrace
a non-punitive culture so
their front-line staff is
empowered to deliver them.

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8 Pain Points toward Becoming a
Data Driven Healthcare Organization
Transparency can also be a
double-edged sword.
The culture has to be ready to
accept it, and any issues of
trust in the data must first be
addressed, although not
necessary “fixed.”

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8 Pain Points toward Becoming a
Data Driven Healthcare Organization
Typical healthcare groups
measures anywhere from
300 to 800 metrics across
the system, many driven by
governmental reporting.
But many others are historical
and it’s difficult to retire them.
It’s hard to say ‘this isn’t the
best metric for this process,’
so they become additive.

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8 Pain Points toward Becoming a
Data Driven Healthcare Organization
It’s challenging to make a
decision about what’s
important when selecting a
healthcare analytics system.
This decision can be assisted
through objective review
sources, such as KLAS,
Gartner, and Chilmark.

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8 Pain Points toward Becoming a
Data Driven Healthcare Organization
Sometimes enterprise data
warehouse implementations
fail for various reasons.
Organizations that have tried
this path know the difficulty in
direction change if asked to
consider another solution.
Without executive sponsorship
that engages frontline users
the path is increasingly tough.

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8 Pain Points toward Becoming a
Data Driven Healthcare Organization
There are smart analytical
people, many who work
“below their license”.
They are stuck performing
tasks which could be
automated with the right
governance and technology.
Once their roles are better
defined, the organization can
fully realize the power of their
data analysts.
7

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8 Pain Points toward Becoming a
Data Driven Healthcare Organization
Successful, data-driven
organizations have in place
a governance structure with
executive leadership who
provide guidance and
decide on priorities.
Best practice governance
structures also include a
leadership council and an
advisory group of cross-
functional executives.

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More about this topic
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Michael Barton, Engagement Executive, VP
Improving Healthcare Performance through Analytics and Cultural Transformation: One
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A Data-Driven Culture: Making Data a Part of Everyday Decision Making
Patrick Nelli, Manager, Financial Planning & Analysis
How Healthcare Business Intelligence Drives Smarter Decisions
Chris Rains, Senior Data Architect and Michael McCuistion, Technical Director
How to Sustain Healthcare Quality Improvement in 3 Critical Steps
Paul Horstmeier, Chief Operating Officer
Link to original article for a more in-depth discussion.
How to Avoid the 8 Most Common Pain Points in Becoming a Data Driven
Healthcare Organization

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For more information:

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Mike Doyle joined Health Catalyst in May of 2013 as a Vice President. He has
been connected with the Health Catalyst senior leadership team since 2006. Prior
to Health Catalyst, Mike led the Enterprise Data Warehouse (EDW) program at
Allina Health as Director of Healthcare Intelligence. He helped Allina grow its EDW
program from a nascent clinical improvement initiative to an enterprise-wide
strategic asset, in heavy demand by thousands of users across all of Allina’s 11
hospitals and 100+ clinics.
Prior to his work with Allina, Mike was employed on the Northwestern Medicine campus in Chicago,
beginning as a Systems Administrator at the Medical School and eventually leading the Analytics
and Systems Integration team at Northwestern Medical Faculty Foundation. In addition to his
experience building strong technology teams, Mike has experience in technical roles such as
database administrator, web programmer, data architect, and business intelligence developer. Mike
holds a Master of Music degree from Northwestern University and a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree
from Carnegie Mellon University.
Other Clinical Quality Improvement Resources
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