In this blog series, we’ve been busting some common healthcare analytics myths, and it’s time to bust yet another. So far, we’ve tackled these 3 myths:
- You need a data warehouse to do analytics correctly
- The analytics in your EHR are just fine for the level of insight you need
- You need to know all your goals at the beginning of your healthcare analytics implementation
Today’s myth: that the business intelligence (BI) tool that provides the slickest visualization is the best one.
Tweet: Healthcare analytics myths busted. The slickest BI tool isn’t always the best.
“I Need the Slickest BI Tool for Storytelling”
We hear a lot these days about how you need a flashy data visualization tool to enable you to tell stories with your data. Truth is, while having powerful visuals can enable a greater understanding of your data, it shouldn’t be what drives your BI tool decision. What’s most important in storytelling is that you’re telling the right story. Because if your story is based on fiction, you’ll be making uninformed decisions.
We touched on this subject before in our blog post on the parable “The Blind Men and the Elephant”. In this parable, six blind men were asked to describe an elephant. Because they were all feeling a different part of the animal, they described the elephant in different ways – the man who felt the tail thought it was a rope, the man who felt the trunk thought it was a tree, and so on. While each man was correct in his description, none could see the big picture.
It’s similar with analytics. Many analytics users have an incomplete view of data because it’s not effectively tied together. When business rules are not being applied to ensure that data from different source systems is being looked at in a consistent way, you can run into lots of trouble. No matter how pretty the data looks, it will not be accurate.
So what should you look for in a data analytics solution to ensure the story you tell is based on fact? Download our white paper, “5 Healthcare Analytics Myths Busted!” to find out. Also stay tuned for the last post in our blog series to learn about the 5th myth that we’ll bust.
Kathy started her career in television news writing and producing. She then worked at a public relations agency and as a freelance writer before joining Dimensional Insight in 2013.
Kathy has presented at several events in both healthcare and wine & spirits, including the Healthcare Innovation Summit, the Healthcare IT Marketing & PR Conference (HITMC), and the WSWA Women’s Leadership Council (WLC) Conference. Kathy is a Fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE) and a member of Women of the Vine & Spirits.
She is also host of the Smarter Healthcare Podcast (www.smarthcpodcast.com) and is a member of the Forbes Communications Council.
Kathy holds a bachelor’s degree from Dartmouth College and an MBA from Boston University.
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