Lesson #1. It's the Data!
So, if you have any doubts as to what that statement means, here it is. It is the data that is of value to the business. Yes, I said business. Unless you work for a software making mega corporation whose revenues come from the software you make, you are nothing but a cost center and the only way you are going to add value to your organization is by "saving" the "business" money. Now that we are clear about us IT folks' role, let me explain the rule I mentioned above. The only thing that adds value to the business is timely delivery of "good quality" information, so they can make intelligent decisions. "Data becomes information, then knowledge, then value".Lesson #2. ETL, BI, DW, Semantics, Metadata, mart, cube, ontology etc. etc.
If you are a business person trying to make decisions on process improvements or looking to reduce the cost of healthcare coverage, this should all be gobblygook to you.
In fact, the next time one of us IT folks tells you that you can't have your data because of any of the above said acronyms or any other new reason that doesn't make sense to you, please feel free to whack us with whatever is in your hand.
Lesson #3. Data Quality
How many times have you heard this phrase ..."we're having data quality issues..." or "data quality is our number one issue.."? Well, whack us IT folks again! Why? Because, simply put, it means "bad data" and it is our fault that we can't fix all the bad data flowing through the systems. Actually my IT bretheren, you can block this whack, because we didn't create the data. But we can definitely help scrub it. Again, the point being it is all about the data.
Lesson #4. Define your measures!
Here's where we IT folk have the upper hand. If you think you know what your measurements are, think again. If you think that number of surgeries done a day is a good performance measure for your employees, think again! Define your measures (Refer to lesson #1 if you have questions). Apply critical thinking to it. Then let us know which ones are the most important ones so you can make your intelligent decisions and keep more revenue coming in the pipeline so we don't go down like AIG! Phew, that took a long breath. In fact, defining your measure should be your first priority when undertaking any Informatics initiative. If you have your measures defined, then all the acronyms & terms in lesson #2 will fall into place.
Lesson #5. Tools, platforms and appliances!
This should be the last of your concerns. Again, refer to lesson #1 if you have any questions. Tools are a way to do things. One may be better than the other depending on your current infrastructure and investments. But remember, once you know exactly what you want, tools become just that. Tools selected to do a particular job.
Next week: How to get there
Lesson #3. Data Quality
How many times have you heard this phrase ..."we're having data quality issues..." or "data quality is our number one issue.."? Well, whack us IT folks again! Why? Because, simply put, it means "bad data" and it is our fault that we can't fix all the bad data flowing through the systems. Actually my IT bretheren, you can block this whack, because we didn't create the data. But we can definitely help scrub it. Again, the point being it is all about the data.
Lesson #4. Define your measures!
Here's where we IT folk have the upper hand. If you think you know what your measurements are, think again. If you think that number of surgeries done a day is a good performance measure for your employees, think again! Define your measures (Refer to lesson #1 if you have questions). Apply critical thinking to it. Then let us know which ones are the most important ones so you can make your intelligent decisions and keep more revenue coming in the pipeline so we don't go down like AIG! Phew, that took a long breath. In fact, defining your measure should be your first priority when undertaking any Informatics initiative. If you have your measures defined, then all the acronyms & terms in lesson #2 will fall into place.
Lesson #5. Tools, platforms and appliances!
This should be the last of your concerns. Again, refer to lesson #1 if you have any questions. Tools are a way to do things. One may be better than the other depending on your current infrastructure and investments. But remember, once you know exactly what you want, tools become just that. Tools selected to do a particular job.
Next week: How to get there
