Diver Platform’s Measure Factory Delivers Data Confidence Needed to Reduce Readmissions

Data Confidence in Action

Background

Covenant HealthCare is an independent healthcare system located in Saginaw, Michigan. With more than 4,600 employees, 643 acute care licensed beds, and 560 physicians on medical staff, it is the largest healthcare employer in its region.

Covenant was born as the result of a merger in 1998. One of the first major technology investments the health system made was the implementation of Epic as its EHR in 2007. Recently, the organization has wanted to do more with its Epic data by merging it with data from other source systems so it could gain insights to reduce readmissions, streamline supply purchasing, and improve its finances.

Enter Dimensional Insight. An executive from Munson Healthcare, a Dimensional Insight customer, told an executive at Covenant about the success the organization has had with Dimensional Insight’s business intelligence software. Covenant soon requested a demo and was impressed with the power of Dimensional Insight’s Diver Platform and Measure Factory.

 A Single Source of the truth

Diver Platform provides the foundation of Dimensional Insight’s business intelligence offering. Diver Platform’s columnar database provides users with incredibly fast access to data and the ability to dive deep into that data. In addition to Diver Platform, Covenant also implemented Dimensional Insight’s new Measure Factory, which is a business rules engine that provides automated data governance and standard definitions of hundreds of measures for a consistent view of data across the enterprise.

“One of the challenges we’ve always had – and where Measure Factory will help us – is with the source of truth,” says Ken Arnold, Covenant’s analytics manager. “It can be frustrating to ask for a number and get four different numbers back from different people. So, leveraging Measure Factory as that truth is going to really give our teams confidence in the numbers they are getting.”

The first project Covenant is using Measure Factory for is to get a handle on its readmissions data. The organization has a five, 10, and 15 percent reduction strategy for readmissions for this fiscal year based on the base number from Measure Factory. Covenant’s first users are in the quality department. Arnold is working with nurse managers so they can access DivePort – Dimensional Insight’s browser-based access to dashboards – to see the readmissions numbers for their unit each month. Each of the units has a target to help contribute to the overall reduction in readmissions.

Changing the culture

Throughout the rollout process, Covenant spent significant time on data governance and data validation. One surprise during the validation process was that the organization uncovered some workflow errors that it hadn’t previously realized. When users saw some of the initial data that Measure Factory was producing, they thought it was wrong. However, the IT department was able to show them that it was exactly the information that was entered into Epic in the first place. This has allowed Covenant to examine the Epic workflow and improve the way users input data.

Arnold saw the value of Measure Factory immediately, and as he worked with Dimensional Insight during implementation, he started to see the potential of other aspects of Diver Platform. His job, he says, is to help others at Covenant see the value he sees in the product. “It’s a culture change and it’s going to take time,” he says, “and we’re just starting down that path right now.”

Next Steps

Arnold says the finance department is fully on board to use Diver Platform. In addition, Covenant plans to use Diver Platform and Measure Factory to track falls, patient experience, and employee engagement. “We’re pretty much full steam ahead on anything Measure Factory, anything Dimensional Insight,” says Arnold. “Let’s get it in there, let’s utilize that, because that’s the way to go and it’s making a difference.”

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