Why Data is So Important

Editor’s note: The following is an excerpt from the book Making Your Data Work by Ken Rohde, senior consultant for The Greeley Company in Marblehead, MA.

 

What is a realistic goal for the collection and use of our data? Why do we do it?

Effective data needs to be able to cause change. It needs to be an integral part of the control loop for your facility. If data does not validate or change behaviors, it is not very useful and probably is resulting in the expenditure of time and effort with a limited return in value.

 

Data that does not validate or change our behavior is not very useful. Data also needs to serve us, not make our goals harder to achieve. So who needs to be able to use data? In one way or another, we all need to be able to effectively use data. Often the quality and performance improvement, infection control, and risk management departments are key collectors and managers of data, but the real value of data extends from the clinical and nonclinical frontline all the way through to the board.

 

The secret to making your data useful throughout the organization is to recognize that not everyone wants or needs the same data. Although we might be tempted to provide the board of directors with a 150-page data report each quarter, that may not be useful if board members get to spend only 15 minutes looking at the report before they meet and then hear a 20-minute overview presentation. That’s lots of data—but it’s probably not likely to validate actions or cause change.

 

Likewise, a comprehensive presentation to the dietitian group on the current status of core measures might be interesting, but it probably will not validate their actions or cause change within their department.

 

One of the key concepts is the ability to roll up and zoom in on data. This keeps data linked together and ensures that detailed inputs from particular departments are part of the big picture, but it also allows data to be rolled up into more useful summaries as we present our findings to people and departments higher up in the organization.

 

The data cycle starts with data collection and storage of data in such a way that it can be retrieved. Then we need to analyze, mine, and listento the data so that we can understand what it is telling us. Finally, we need to present and share the data. If the data cycle is working well, there is a strong connection between the data that is collected and the system’s response. This is called a closed control loop, because data feeds from the behavior and then validates it or causes the behavior to change; then behavior feeds back into the data, which then adjusts the behavior, and so on.

For more information on Rohde’s book, go to www.hcmarketplace.com.

For information on Greeley's data management education and consulting services contact Sharon Courage, vice president, hospital services, at scourage@greeley.com or 888/749-3054, ext. 3501.