Developing an Analytics Strategy for

Healthcare Quality and Performance

Improvement

Trevor Strome, MSc, PMP

Blog: http://HealthcareAnalytics.info
Twitter: @tstrome
 The Genesis of Analytics Strategy Development

“We have all these dashboards,

but why aren’t we seeing any
improvement?”
- An unnamed healthcare executive

Developing an Analytics Strategy that Drives Healthcare Improvement 2

 Building a Strategy

• Document current state

– Review strategy components with stakeholders
– Identify how analytics are currently used
– Document what will be needed
• Identify gaps
– Boil down laundry list to key things that can be done
– ID where the gaps occur
• Execute strategy
– ID which gaps are the priority for the organization
– Develop a plan to implement strategy’s recommendations

Developing an Analytics Strategy that Drives Healthcare Improvement 3

 Healthcare Analytics Overview
Components of an analytics system
 What is “Analytics”

• Analytics consists of the systems, tools, and techniques that:

– Help understand the patterns in data
• Has a change really occurred (or not occurred)?

– Identify “why” a change has (or has not) occurred

– Suggest what the next logical steps should be

• Correct negative trends or encourage positive trends

• Healthcare analytics improve decision making by replacing gut

instinct with data-driven, transparent, verifiable, and robust decision
methods.

Developing an Analytics Strategy that Drives Healthcare Improvement 5

 What is an Analytics Strategy?

• A strategy that ensure analytics development and capabilities are in

alignment with enterprise quality and performance goals
– avoids the “all dashboard, no improvement” syndrome

• Helps to identify optimal use of analytics

– can mean the difference between a “collection of reports” versus
a high-value information resource

• Analytics Strategy should align with (or be a component of)

– Business Intelligence (BI) or Information Technology (IT)
strategy
– Quality Improvement (QI) strategy

Developing an Analytics Strategy that Drives Healthcare Improvement 6

 Why is a Strategy for Analytics Required?

• Analytics is currently “trendy”

– Many buzzwords, marketing angles, white papers, opinions
– Easy to get distracted from what is actually required by your
organization

• A strategy helps keep focus on what is important for the organization

– Invest now for what is required now, and invest later for what is
required in the future.

• Analytics is a sophisticated use of data and technology

– May trigger a cascade of enhancements throughout other
components of IT and BI (i.e., reporting, data storage, ETL, etc)

Developing an Analytics Strategy that Drives Healthcare Improvement 7

 When to Develop (or Update) the Analytics Strategy

• NOW! (If you don’t have one)

• When major quality improvement initiatives kick-off

• In the planning stages of IT infrastructure and software deployment

projects

• In the absence of above, annual reviews (at minimum) should be

conducted on your analytics strategy.

• The analytics strategy should be a living document; don’t

hesitate to update it as the environment or requirements
change.

Developing an Analytics Strategy that Drives Healthcare Improvement 8

 Information Value Chain

Data Analysis Information Action Outcomes

Developing an Analytics Strategy that Drives Healthcare Improvement 9

 Data, Dashboards, and Decisions

Performance
Objectives

Business
Processes What DID
Happen

Analytics
What IS Decisions
Data Strategy Tools and Outcomes Evaluation
Happening and Actions
Methods

What WILL
Improvement Happen
Approach

Quality Goals

Developing an Analytics Strategy that Drives Healthcare Improvement 10

 Becoming an Analytical Healthcare Organization

1. The analytic needs of the business are understood.

2. The HCO possesses the right analytical people and skillsets.
3. The technology infrastructure supports the analytical people and
the analytical needs of the business.
4. The analytical people are deployed to the right projects and are
working on activities that move the organization closer to achieving
its performance and quality goals.
5. Healthcare leaders, quality improvement teams, and other
decision-makers actually use the information and insight available
through analytics.
6. The health data that make analytics possible and that drive quality
and performance improvement is held secure, and that it is
accessed and used in responsible ways.

Developing an Analytics Strategy that Drives Healthcare Improvement 11

 Start with the Needs of the Business

• Focus on how analytics can support the needs of quality and

performance improvement within the healthcare organization.

Quality
Business
Alignment Performance Management

Business Intelligence / Analytics

Technology Data Integration

Data Storage

Developing an Analytics Strategy that Drives Healthcare Improvement 12

Analytics Strategy Framework
 Components of Analytics Strategy

Business &
Quality
Context

Technology
Stakeholders
&
& Users
Infrastructure

Analytics
Strategy

Team & Processes &

Training Data

Tools &
Techniques

Developing an Analytics Strategy that Drives Healthcare Improvement 14

 Adding SWOT to Strategy

• Traditional “SWOT” analysis can be layered onto the components

(and sub-components) of analytics strategy.
Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities Threats

Business &
Quality Context

Stakeholders &
Users

Data &
Processes

Tools &
Techniques

Team &
Training

Technology &
Infrastructure

Developing an Analytics Strategy that Drives Healthcare Improvement 15

 Business & Quality Context

Business &
Quality
Context

Technology & Stakeholders

Infrastructure & Users

Analytics
Strategy

Team & Processes &

Training Data

Tools &
Techniques
 Problem Domain

• The three fundamental objectives of healthcare improvement are to

identify:
– What needs to improve?
– What processes must change?
– What change has occurred?
plus…
• determine if a change is likely to occur (i.e., predictive analytics,
simulation)

Developing an Analytics Strategy that Drives Healthcare Improvement 17

 Enterprise Goals, Objectives, and Strategy

• Goals:
– Are what the organization is aiming to achieve.
– Define the performance and quality targets of the organization
– Answer “why” the organization is (or should be) engaging in
certain activities

• Strategy
– Outlines how the organization expects to achieve its goals

• Analytics must provide insight into past, current, and anticipated

future progress towards meeting the enterprise goals.

Developing an Analytics Strategy that Drives Healthcare Improvement 18

 Quality Goals

• Quality is “doing the right thing, at the right time, for the right person,
and having the best possible result.”
- Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality

• Quality improvement is “better patient experience and outcomes

achieved through changing provider behavior and organization
through using a systematic change method and strategies.” *

• Quality goals should be in relation to strategy and objectives of the

organization.

* Ovretveit J. Does improving quality save money? A review of the evidence of which improvements to quality reduce costs to health service providers.
London: Health Foundation, 2009, p8.

Developing an Analytics Strategy that Drives Healthcare Improvement 19

 Quality Goals

• Quality goals are the specific improvements area and targets set out
to achieve by the healthcare organization.

• Quality goals should be time-specific and measurable; goals should

also define the specific population of patients that will be affected.

Sample Quality Goals

Patient Safety – Reduce treatment-related critical incidents in
hospital inpatients by 50% in six months and to zero in 18
months.
Patient Flow – Decrease Emergency Department Length of Stay
(LOS) to less than four hours for 95% of non-admitted patients
and less than six hours for 95% of admitted patients within 18
months.

Developing an Analytics Strategy that Drives Healthcare Improvement 20

 Quality Strategy / Improvement Approach

• The achievement of improvement goals require specific and

appropriate strategies, methodologies, and information.

Sample Quality Strategies

Improve Patient Flow – Currently using Lean to reduce waste from
current processes and workflows, and using 5S to standardize storage
spaces, treatment spaces, etc.
Improve Patient Flow – Want to radically re-design patient flow to
“eliminate the Emergency waiting room” starting in 12 months, but need
to simulate new processes to determine likely impact.
Improve Patient Flow – Want to identify patients at-risk for long
Emergency Department and/or inpatient stays based on previous history
and clinical prediction model.
Improve Patient Safety – Will employ Six Sigma to re-engineer certain
nursing and physician workflows to reduce (and eliminate) medication
errors and quality issues such as central-line associated blood steam
infections.

Developing an Analytics Strategy that Drives Healthcare Improvement 21

 Aligning Strategic and Tactical Quality Objectives

• Objectives of improvement initiatives should, where possible, align

with the quality objectives of the organization as a whole.
– Prevents mis-directed activity
• Enables the HCO to monitor progress and evaluate outcomes
• Analytics is the “glue” which ties strategic objectives and tactical
activities together.

Strategic Level Strategic Objectives

Analytics Metrics Indicators Targets
Tactical Level Tactical Objectives Voice of the Customer

A reminder that the customer (“the

patient”) is the ultimate reason for
the work we’re doing.

Developing an Analytics Strategy that Drives Healthcare Improvement

 Using Appropriate Indicators

• Using appropriate indicators that align between tactical and strategic

levels are necessary.
– Tactical indicators should align with strategic indicators
– Some tactical-specific indicators might be necessary for
initiatives that are important, but don’t directly align with strategic
goals.

Strategic Indicator
Level

Tactical Sub- Sub- Sub- Tactical

Indicator 1 Indicator 2 Indicator 3 Indicator 1
Level

Developing an Analytics Strategy that Drives Healthcare Improvement 23

 Quality Strategy / Improvement Approach

• Quality Strategy outlines the steps and approach the organization is

going to be taking to achieve quality goals/objectives.

• Which QI approaches are utilized will impact on what data is

required, how it is analyzed, and how it is disseminated.

• Analytics development and quality improvement initiatives must

work closely together.

• When executing the analytics strategy, ask “are we taking

appropriate and necessary steps to achieve the organization’s
quality goals?”

Developing an Analytics Strategy that Drives Healthcare Improvement 24

 Quality Metrics and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

• Key Performance Indicators are:

– “quantifiable metrics which reflect the performance of an
organization in achieving its goals and objectives (and)… reflect
strategic value drivers” *

• KPIs are often where analytics “start” in a healthcare organization.

• Will the analytics strategy enable stakeholders to “measure the right

things, and to measure the right things correctly?”

* http://www.information-management.com/issues/20040901/1009207-1.html

Developing an Analytics Strategy that Drives Healthcare Improvement 25

 Quality Metrics and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

• Quality goals of the HCO will have associated KPIs with which to
monitor and evaluate overall performance and help gauge the
effectiveness of improvement initiatives.

Quality Goal Sample KPIs

Improve Patient Flow • Patient Length of Stay (LOS)
• Time between patient arrivals
• Time to clean and prepare treatment spaces
• Waiting-time to see a physician
• Admission to hospital rate
• Time waiting to be admitted after treatment
Improve Quality of Care • Time between medication errors
and Patient Safety • Time between central line infections

Developing an Analytics Strategy that Drives Healthcare Improvement 26

 Quality Improvement Methodologies

• Many, if not most, successful HCOs employ an established

improvement or management methodology.

• There are many of these methodologies/frameworks used in

healthcare today, including:
– Lean
– Six Sigma
– Total Quality Management (TQM),
– Constraints Management
– Numerous variants (such as Lean Six Sigma).

• Frameworks differ in their philosophies, tools, and techniques, but all

provide a structured approach for analyzing and improving quality
and performance within a complex organization.

Developing an Analytics Strategy that Drives Healthcare Improvement 27

 Common Quality Improvement Methodologies in Healthcare

Methodology Approach to Improvement Process Overview

PDSA Conducting experiments and Plan
testing improvements Do
iteratively on a local, small-
Study
scale basis.
Act
Lean Eliminating waste, improving Identify value
flow, maximizing value-added Identify value stream
and minimizing non-value- Flow
added activities.
Pull
Perfection
Six Sigma Reducing variation and Define
eliminating deviation in Measure
processes. Analyze
Improve
Control

Developing an Analytics Strategy that Drives Healthcare Improvement 28

 Stakeholders & Users

Business &
Quality
Context

Technology & Stakeholders

Infrastructure & Users

Analytics
Strategy

Team & Processes &

Training Data

Tools &
Techniques
 Stakeholder Analysis

• A stakeholder is a person (or group of persons) that are:

– impacted by, users of, or otherwise have a concern (or interest
in) the development and deployment of analytical solutions
throughout the healthcare organization.

• When developing an analytics strategy, it is important to understand

what each of the likely analytics stakeholders will require, and
develop approaches to ensure they are getting what they need.

Developing an Analytics Strategy that Drives Healthcare Improvement 30

 HCO Stakeholder Types

Stakeholder Description
Patient The person whose health an healthcare
experience we’re trying to improve with the use
of analytics

Sponsor The person who supports and provides financial

resources for the development and
implementation of the analytics infrastructure
Influencer A person who may not be directly involved in the
development or use of analytics, but who holders
considerable influence over support of analytics
initiatives.
Customer / User A person in the HCO who accesses analytical
tools, or uses the output of analytical tools, to
support decision making and to drive action.

Developing an Analytics Strategy that Drives Healthcare Improvement 31

 Sponsors & Stakeholders

• Sponsor
– Is there executive support for advancing analytics capability?

• Stakeholders
– Many groups of people are potentially impacted by analytics
• Information end-users (clinical staff, administrators, QI)
• Subject Matter experts (business)
• Analytics experts (business/IT)

• All stakeholders are impacted by how well analytics strategy is

executed; some may help execute the strategy.

Developing an Analytics Strategy that Drives Healthcare Improvement 32

 Organization Structure

• If possible, an President & CEO

organizational structure
should be included in the Senior VP

analytics strategy to better

understand where in the Vice President –
Research
Vice President –
Technology
Vice President –
Data Integration,
Analytics &
Executive Director –
Health Information
Services
organization key Reporting

stakeholders and users are Executive Director –

Research Strategy
Director –
Technology
Executive Director –
Data & Reporting
Director – Health
Records
Assessment Services Management
situated.
Director – Applied Director – Clinical Executive Director –
Research Engineering Evaluation

• It is important to have
Director – Project
stakeholders from all levels Management

within the organization

Director – Strategic
Analytics

Director – Clinical
Analytics

Developing an Analytics Strategy that Drives Healthcare Improvement 33

 Stakeholder Considerations

• When engaging stakeholders and eliciting their points of view, some

items of consideration should include:
– Who is using the analytics tools?
– What is their analytical sophistication?
– How are analytics tools being used?
– What questions are being answered?
– Why do they need this information?
– Who uses the information?
– How often is the information used?
– How is the information being used?
– How can use of (or access to) information be improved?

Developing an Analytics Strategy that Drives Healthcare Improvement 34

 Analytics Use Cases

• Obtaining as much information as possible about the possible uses

of analytics will help to:
– identify any gaps in analytics capabilities, and
– reduce the likelihood that critical analytics needs will be missed.

• Analytics use cases help identify:

– what data elements are most important,
– what indicators will be necessary to calculate, and
– what types of usability factors (such as dashboards, alerts, and
mobile access) need to be considered.

Developing an Analytics Strategy that Drives Healthcare Improvement 35

 Analytics Use Cases

• A use case is a brief description of how analytics will be used by a

stakeholder. Examples include:

Customer / user Sample use case(s)

Physician Use real-time analytics for improving diagnostic
accuracy.
Use personalized performance report to adjust
care practices.
Unit manager Determine which patients are likely to exceed
length of stay targets.

QI team member Identify bottlenecks in patient flow.

Evaluate outcomes of QI initiatives.

Executive Evaluate and monitor overall performance of the

organization.

Developing an Analytics Strategy that Drives Healthcare Improvement 36

 Analytics Use Cases

• When developing analytics use cases, information used to develop

the use cases can include:
– Decisions for which analytics insight is required
– Actions that get triggered by analytics indicators
– Risks that analytics identify and/or help to mitigate
– What key processes need to be monitored and/or improved
– What indicators are required to monitor quality and performance

Developing an Analytics Strategy that Drives Healthcare Improvement 37

 Working well with stakeholders

• Identify key members of each of the stakeholder groups

• Understand the needs of each stakeholder group, and the needs of

the members within each stakeholder group.

• Listen to, acknowledge, and act on the input of stakeholders.

• Keep stakeholders informed of progress.

• Deliver on promises made to stakeholders and demonstrate the

value of analytics in addressing the stakeholders’ needs.

Developing an Analytics Strategy that Drives Healthcare Improvement 38

 Processes & Data

Business &
Quality
Context

Technology & Stakeholders

Infrastructure & Users

Analytics
Strategy

Team & Processes &

Training Data

Tools &
Techniques
 Data Quality & Data Stewardship

• Accurate, timely, and readily available data is the backbone of all

analytics and quality improvement projects.

• Quality of the data available ultimately impacts what insights can be

derived from analytics
– Identify ways to improve data quality at the source

• Data stewardship is a critical function in the management large and

complex data sets.
– Improper management of data can lead to business intelligence
producing incorrect information

• When executing strategy, ensure that appropriate governance and

stewardship structures are in-place.

Developing an Analytics Strategy that Drives Healthcare Improvement 40

 Data considerations

• Modern computerized clinical systems (such as electronic medical

records) contain dozens if not hundreds of individual data elements.

• The potential exists for thousands of possible data items from which
to choose for analytics.

• An analytics strategy must address:

– how to determine which data is most necessary for quality and
performance improvement
– how the data is managed and its quality assured
– how data links back to business processes for necessary
context.

Developing an Analytics Strategy that Drives Healthcare Improvement 41

 Data Considerations for Strategy

Data Issue Example

Data Sources • What are the sources of data?
• What data is necessary to address key
business issues?
Data Quality • How good is the quality of available data?
• Is the data “good enough” for analytics?
• What gaps in data exist?
• Does metadata exist?
Data governance • Who is responsible for data management,
governance, and stewardship?
• What policies and procedures exist?
Business Processes • What business processes and procedures align
with important quality issues?
• What data is available for measuring
processes? Are proxy measures available?

Developing an Analytics Strategy that Drives Healthcare Improvement 42

 Sources of Data

• Data is the backbone of all analytics and quality improvement

projects.

• Analytics typically integrates data from multiple source-systems

and from across multiple units/departments/programs.

• Data from source systems must be inventoried and aligned with

business processes.

• Successful execution of analytics strategy requires all relevant

data to be identified, documented, processed, and made available
to appropriate analytics applications.

Developing an Analytics Strategy that Drives Healthcare Improvement 43

 Sources of Data

• Successful execution of an analytics strategy requires relevant data

to be:
– identified,
– documented,
– processed, and
– made available to appropriate analytics applications.

• It may not be possible, feasible, or even necessary to include or

account for every possible data source in the analytics strategy.

• When embarking on, or improving, the use of analytics within an

HCO, focus on those data sources that are related to the major
focus areas of the organization's quality goals.

Developing an Analytics Strategy that Drives Healthcare Improvement 44

 Data Quality

• Data that is used for healthcare quality and performance

improvement needs to be:

– High quality—to ensure that the information generated from

analytics is valid and useful.

– Well documented—so that analysts and developers using the

data are aware of its context and meaning.

– Easily accessible—and available in a data warehouse (or

similar data store) to ensure that it is available for analysis when
required.

Developing an Analytics Strategy that Drives Healthcare Improvement 45

 Data Governance

• According to the Data Governance Institute, data governance is:

– a system of decision rights and accountabilities for information-
related processes,
– executed according to agreed-upon models, which
– describe who can take what actions with what information, and
when, under what circumstances, using what methods.

• Data governance helps HCOs better manage and realize value from
data, improve risk management associated with data, and ensure
compliance with regulatory, legal, and other requirements.

Developing an Analytics Strategy that Drives Healthcare Improvement 46

 Data Stewardship

• The data steward is responsible for monitoring and evaluating data

quality within a healthcare organization.
• The major functions associated with a data steward include:
– Evaluating data quality, identifying issues, and making
appropriate recommendations.
– Ensuring that any modifications to data storage and
management are in line with accepted policies and procedures.
– Ensuring that data is used properly and that it is accessible.
– Helping to establish enterprise-wide standards for data quality
and usage.
• Within a large organization such as healthcare organization, the
data stewardship function requires one data steward for each major
data subject area or functional area.

Developing an Analytics Strategy that Drives Healthcare Improvement 47

 Data Governance – Sample Governance Structure

• Include any applicable data

governance structures from
your HCO in the analytics
strategy document.
• What data governance should
not be, however, is just
another layer of bureaucracy
– Keep governance
processes and procedures
as agile as possible.

Source: Manitoba eHealth

Developing an Analytics Strategy that Drives Healthcare Improvement 48

 Metadata

• Meta is “data about the data”, or information that defines, describes,

and annotates the data that it accompanies.
• Metadata is essential so that the entire organization knows what
information is available and how it can be used.

Source: Winnipeg Regional Health Authority / Manitoba Centre for Health Policy

Developing an Analytics Strategy that Drives Healthcare Improvement 49

 Data model

• Data modeling helps to identify and understand all the potential uses
of data within a healthcare organization.
• According to Hoberman (2009), a data model is:
– a wayfinding tool for both business and IT professionals
– uses a set of symbols and text to precisely explain a subset of
real information to improve communication within the
organization
– leads to a more flexible and stable application environment.
• The data model documents the various relationships and attributes
associated with the data.

Developing an Analytics Strategy that Drives Healthcare Improvement 50

 Document current dimensions / data bus

• An understanding of what data is available in what source systems

helps to better understand how data can be shared across the
enterprise.
• Leverage a “heat map” of data quality over these dimensions to
quickly highlight gaps and areas of low concern.

Developing an Analytics Strategy that Drives Healthcare Improvement 51

 Business Processes

• Knowing what a value “is” (data) is almost useless without knowing

what it “means”

• Business processes provide valuable context to data provided by

source systems.

• When aligned with business processes, analytics provides evidence

for what changes in process need to occur.

Developing an Analytics Strategy that Drives Healthcare Improvement 52

 Business Processes

• Essentially all quality improvement methodologies require indicators

and metrics that examine intervals on the other process measures.

• This requires a strong alignment between business process

components and the data that measures those components.

• As part of the analytics strategy, you should consider:

– if and how current business processes are documented, and
– how data items are mapped to these documented business
processes.

Developing an Analytics Strategy that Drives Healthcare Improvement 53

 Metrics

• A metric is a measurement used to gauge some

quantifiable component of performance (1).

• Metrics should be SMART(2):

– Specific (targeted to the area being measured)

– Measurable (accurate data collection is possible)
– Actionable (trends indicate when action needed)
– Relevant (not everything is important)
– Timely (data is available when required)

1. http://searchcrm.techtarget.com/definition/business-metric
2. http://www.prosci.com/metrics.htm

Developing an Analytics Strategy that Drives Healthcare Improvement 54

 Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

• Key Performance Indicators are:

– “quantifiable measurements, agreed to beforehand, that
reflect the critical success factors of an organization” (1)
– “high-level snapshots of a business or organization based
on specific predefined measures” (2)
– “quantifiable metrics which reflect the performance of an
organization in achieving its goals and objectives (and)…
reflect strategic value drivers” (3)

1. http://management.about.com/cs/generalmanagement/a/keyperfindic.htm
2. http://www.informationbuilders.com/kpi-key-performance-indicators.html
3. http://www.information-management.com/issues/20040901/1009207-1.html

Developing an Analytics Strategy that Drives Healthcare Improvement 55

 Analytics Tools and Techniques

Business &
Quality
Context

Technology & Stakeholders

Infrastructure & Users

Analytics
Strategy

Team & Processes &

Training Data

Tools &
Techniques
 Quality, Performance, and Analytics

What has
occurred?

What is Quality & What is

likely to occurring
occur? Performance now?

Why is it
occurring?

Developing an Analytics Strategy that Drives Healthcare Improvement 57

 Choosing the Right Analytics

Past Present Future

What Happened? What’s Happening What Will Happen?

(Reports) Now? (Extrapolation)
Information (Alerts)

How and Why Did What’s the next What’s the

It Happen? best action? best/worst that can
Insight (Modeling) (Recommendation) happen?
(Prediction,
Simulation)

Adapted from “Analytics at Work”, Paul Davenport.

Developing an Analytics Strategy that Drives Healthcare Improvement

 Analyzing The “Right Things” the “Right Way”

• It is important to align analytics tools, methods, and capabilities with:

– Business and quality questions that need to answered
– Relevant quality goals and KPIs
– Data available
– Stakeholder analytical sophistication
– Appropriate statistical analyses
– Tools/software available

Developing an Analytics Strategy that Drives Healthcare Improvement 59

 Inventory of Existing Analytical Tools

• Inventory existing analytics tools to determine if:

– Capability is missing that will be required
– Existing capability exists that may not be widely known

• Be aware that different programs/departments might have different

analytics tools that are not shared with the organization as a whole.
– These need to be inventoried and summarized

Developing an Analytics Strategy that Drives Healthcare Improvement 60

 Example Analytical Applications
Analytical Application Description
Statistical • Used for deeper statistical analysis not
available in “standard” business intelligence or
reporting packages

Visualization • Used for developing interactive, dynamic data

visualizations that aid with analysis
Data Profiling • Helps to understand and improve the quality of
an HCO’s data.
Data Mining • Analysis of large data sets to uncover unknown
or unsuspected relationships.
Text Mining • Analysis of unstructured, text-based data to
extract high-quality information.
Online Analytical • Allows analysts to interactively explore data by
Processing drilling-down, rolling up, or “slicing and dicing”
data.

Developing an Analytics Strategy that Drives Healthcare Improvement 61

 Team and Training

Business &
Quality
Context

Technology & Stakeholders

Infrastructure & Users

Analytics
Strategy

Team & Processes &

Training Data

Tools &
Techniques
 Analytics – It’s About the People

• PEOPLE are, by far, the most important consideration when

developing an analytics infrastructure

• Although having the best toys tools are nice, having the best people
is critical to achieving the goals and objectives of the HCO

• An analytics strategy must consider:

– What kinds of people (and the skills they bring) are necessary
– How to attract the best analytical talent
– How to retain the analytic talent within your HCO

Developing an Analytics Strategy that Drives Healthcare Improvement 63

 Organizational Considerations

• Do we have enough of the right types of people?

• Where do analytics professionals reside?
• To whom do they report?
• What support is available for analysts? What support do they need?
– I.e., single voice of a distributed analyst group
• How are they trained, and what training opportunities are available?
• What are the standard hiring and performance requirements?

• Different models:
– “centralized” analytics office
– “distributed” analytics resources
– “virtual” center of excellence / competency center

Developing an Analytics Strategy that Drives Healthcare Improvement 64

 Desirable Attributes of Analytics Professionals

• Natural curiosity –revel in asking “what” and “why,” realizing that

these questions do not “expose ignorance” but are truly the only way
to gain full understanding of a problem.
• Innovative mindset – strive for effective yet creative solutions that
provide efficient access to the right information to the right people
when it is needed.
• Business focus – endeavor to know the pertinent details of the
healthcare domains in which they work.
• Technology savvy – be comfortable and proficient with the current
and emerging technologies, such as business intelligence platforms
and data cleaning, analysis, and visualization tools.
• Team player – work well with other members of healthcare analytics
and quality improvement teams, all while respecting the differing
points of views that professionals in other disciplines bring to the
discussion.

Developing an Analytics Strategy that Drives Healthcare Improvement 65

 Analysts’ Skill Sets
Skillset Description
Communications • Analytics professionals must:
• be effective communicators, both in listening and explaining,
• be able to listen to end users and subject matter experts,
• understand what information stakeholders need and how they intend to use
it, and
• be able to explain analytics to those same people in a way that gets the
point across.
• Effective, clear, and accurate writing
• Data graphing and visualization
• Requirements elicitation
Technical Analytics can be a highly technical field, therefore analytics professionals need to be
competent in several key areas in which healthcare analytics intersect with other
technology disciplines.
—Intermediate programming and computation skills
—Database query skills
Clinical Healthcare analytics professionals must know enough about the business of
healthcare, from both a clinical operations and a financial perspective, so that they
are aware of the context from which the data used is drawn.
—Basic healthcare processes
—Basic healthcare financing models

Developing an Analytics Strategy that Drives Healthcare Improvement 66

 Analysts’ Skill Sets

Skillset Description
Quality Healthcare analytics professionals must be familiar with at least the major
improvement approaches and methodologies in use within their healthcare organization.
They may not need to be Six Sigma Black Belts, but should be able to converse with
the practitioners of quality improvement methodologies.
—Lean, Six Sigma, or other improvement methodology
—Process mapping
—Team facilitation
Analytical Needless to say, healthcare analytics professionals must be analytical and curious in
nature.
The toughest of all challenges in healthcare analytics is identifying the root of the
problem, and this requires more than simply going through the motions of applying
statistical tests and building data models.
—Ability to think critically and analytically
—Data centered, obsession with evidence-based problem resolution
—Familiarity with and ability to use scientific principles in addressing quality and
performance problems

Developing an Analytics Strategy that Drives Healthcare Improvement 67

 Technology and Infrastructure

Business &
Quality
Context

Technology & Stakeholders

Infrastructure & Users

Analytics
Strategy

Team & Processes &

Training Data

Tools &
Techniques
 Technology & Infrastructure

• Ideally, the analytical needs of an organization and the technological

requirements to achieve those needs will figure prominently in the
organization’s analytics and IT infrastructure deployment strategy.

• It is important to document key elements of IT architecture to ensure

that analytics is possible:
– Enterprise data warehouse / data marts / etc.
– Business intelligence infrastructure

• The analytics strategy likely will be an important input to IT hardware

and infrastructure strategies and planning.

Developing an Analytics Strategy that Drives Healthcare Improvement 69

 Components of an Analytics System – The “Analytics Stack”

• This stack is optimized for quality and performance improvement

purposes.
Analytics Stack
Presentation
Visualization Dashboards Reports
Alerts Mobile Geospatial
Quality & Performance Management
Processes Indicators Targets
Improvement strategy Evaluation strategy
Analytics
Tools Techniques Team
Stakeholders Requirements
Deployment Management
Data
Quality Management Integration
Infrastructure Storage
Business Context
Objectives Goals Voice of patient

Developing an Analytics Strategy that Drives Healthcare Improvement 70

 Technology & Infrastructure Considerations

Skillset Description
Infrastructure • Networks
• Servers
• Storage

Data • Database Management Systems (DBMS)

• Columnar
• Relational
• In-memory
Integration • Data Warehouses (DW)
• Operational Data Stores (ODS)
• Data Marts (DM)
• Extraction / Load / Transformation (ETL)
• Data Quality (DQ) (cleansing, profiling, management)
• Service Oriented Architecture (SOA)
• Business Event Monitoring (BEM)
• Complex Event Processing (CEP)
• Business Process Management (BPM)
• Business Rules Engine (BRE)
• Enterprise Information Integration (EII)

Developing an Analytics Strategy that Drives Healthcare Improvement 71

 Technology & Infrastructure Considerations

Skillset Description
Infrastructure • Networks
• Servers
• Storage

Data • Database Management Systems (DBMS)

• Columnar
• Relational
• In-memory
Integration • Data Warehouses (DW)
• Operational Data Stores (ODS)
• Data Marts (DM)
• Extraction / Load / Transformation (ETL)
• Data Quality (DQ) (cleansing, profiling, management)
• Service Oriented Architecture (SOA)
• Business Event Monitoring (BEM)
• Complex Event Processing (CEP)
• Business Process Management (BPM)
• Business Rules Engine (BRE)
• Enterprise Information Integration (EII)

Developing an Analytics Strategy that Drives Healthcare Improvement 72

Gap Analysis
 Current State – Business Intelligence / Analytics

BI/Analytics Summary Framework

Category Description Users Format Frequency

Operational Required to determine the • Front-line staff • Line List • Real-time

current status of a unit or • Managers • Aggregate report • Daily
department
Tactical Used to monitor trends in • Managers • Aggregate report • Daily
metrics related to strategic • Program leadership • Dashboard • Weekly
initiatives/projects and identify • Analysts
where targets are not being
met.
Strategic Used to monitor enterprise • Program leadership • Dashboard • Monthly
KPIs at an executive level to • Executives • Scorecard
monitor progress towards
enterprise goals.
Research Used to support initiatives that • Analysts • Line List • Ad hoc
analyze deeper organizational, • Researchers • Aggregate report
process, or clinical issues than
are pre-defined as metrics or
KPIs.

Developing an Analytics Strategy that Drives Healthcare Improvement 74

 Future State & Gap Analysis

• The future state and gap analysis guide execution so that the
intended analytics configuration and capabilities will:

– Meet the needs of sponsors and stakeholders

• Current
• Future

– Ensure analytics capabilities are aligned with the business and

quality goals of the organization within scope of the strategy

Developing an Analytics Strategy that Drives Healthcare Improvement 75

 Gap Analysis

• The gap analysis highlights which current shortcomings must be

addressed to meet the requirements outlined in the future state.

• Identifies what elements must change, or what activities need to

occur, so the analytics needs of quality and performance
improvement are addressed.

• Determines what corrective action is required to address those

needs. Examples of corrective action include:
– Development projects (building new analytical apps)
– Team training (to learn new skills)
– Software acquisition (to obtain new tools)
– Hardware acquisition (to enhance infrastructure)

Developing an Analytics Strategy that Drives Healthcare Improvement 76

 Prioritizing Gap Corrective Actions

• Use the Impact / Effort matrix to help quantitatively determine priority

for addressing analytics gaps.

High impact, Low effort High impact, High effort

“Immediate” “Evaluate”
Impact (increasing)

Q2 Q3

Q1 Q4

Low impact, Low effort Low impact, High effort

“Consider” “Avoid”

Effort/Resources Required (increasing)

Developing an Analytics Strategy that Drives Healthcare Improvement 77

 Gap Analysis

• Identify important gaps between current and future state, what the
corrective action(s) will be, who owns the actions, and what the due
date for corrective actions is.

Category Current Target Corrective Priority Owner Due Date

Situation Action
Business & Quality
Context

Stakeholders &
Users

Data & Processes http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/gap-analysis.htm

Tools &
Techniques

Team & Training

Technology &
Infrastructure

Developing an Analytics Strategy that Drives Healthcare Improvement 78

Strategy Execution
 Execution of Analytics Strategy

• Successful execution of analytics strategy will depend on:

– Clearly defined scope

– Building on strengths

– Addressing deficiencies

– Meeting the business and quality needs of the stakeholders

– Anticipating future requirements

Developing an Analytics Strategy that Drives Healthcare Improvement 80

 Strategy Execution Summary

• It is important to implement and adhere to the analytics strategy

• Plan for and schedule activities to address identified gaps

– Establish a selection criteria to determine what projects will get

emphasis in light of needs of the business and analytics strategy

– Prioritize activities and desired capabilities to balance resources

as new (possibly conflicting) work arises

• Monitor progress towards achieving goals of the analytics strategy

• Ensure that the strategy is a living document that serves as a

roadmap for guiding action and doesn’t become “shelfware”

Developing an Analytics Strategy that Drives Healthcare Improvement 81

 Contact Information

• Contact information for Trevor Strome:

– Email: [email protected] or
[email protected]

– Phone: 204-632-3395

– Twitter: @tstrome

– Blog: http://HealthcareAnalytics.info

– Book: Healthcare Analytics for Quality and Performance Improvement

http://HealthcareAnalyticsBook.com

Developing an Analytics Strategy that Drives Healthcare Improvement 82