Power BI for health care: an organizational and cross-functional project

1 December 2022

The situation in the health and social services network in recent years has made one thing clear: better access to information is necessary to ensure that management is based on reality and not on whims.

That’s why MSSS is inviting network institutions to get Power BI Premium, Microsoft’s powerful data management and information sharing tool.

But is technology the only way to improve access to and use of information? Let’s take a closer look.

Two years into the pandemic, are you still having difficulty connecting to Teams meetings? On a more personal level, are your aging parents still having trouble using the TV remote’s many functions?

Business intelligence (BI) and data analytics aren’t immune to technological developments. They must be handled like any other digital transformation project, taking into account not only technological change but also organizational change, including cultural and people aspects.

All BI projects have essentially the same purpose, regardless of the industry or type of organization: to provide people in the organization with useful information so they can make sound decisions in their jobs.

However, according to a study conducted by Gartner, 85% of BI projects are doomed to failure.

That applies to the health sector as well, so it’s important to build a solid foundation for these projects to be successful.

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Organization and culture

In a recent article based on a Harvard Business Review study, Quebec’s Ministry of the Economy stated that “the biggest challenge for organizations right now isn’t technology, but rather culture.”

Data culture is the sum of values and behaviours promoting the use of data to improve and support decision-making. Given the organizational and cross-functional nature of BI projects, data culture is critical to their success and sustainability.

Perform an organizational diagnosis to build a profile of your organization’s strengths, weaknesses and needs.

Use the results to evaluate the tools in place, user buy-in and user response capacity.

Then, implement a culture development strategy based on BI project priorities and the current situation.

The items listed above are key to developing and sustaining a data culture.

Data management and governance

Once cultural buy-in has begun, defining and implementing a data governance strategy will facilitate data management.

Define roles and responsibilities. Appointing an organizational project leader with management support undoubtedly adds value to the project considering the cross-functional responsibility between data owners and stewards, security officers and information users. Your BI strategy must be a joint effort between your departments and information services.

Monitor and support data management. Although not the only factors, quality and accessibility are often key to the success of BI projects and to the emergence of data culture.

Perform a data management maturity assessment. This will reveal the main obstacles to reaching your full potential as a data-driven organization and the main issues to address.

Data management challenges shouldn’t be associated with the status quo, but rather with improvement. To make things easier, it’s important to assign the right actors, informed and supported by governance.

Once data confidence has been established or data management plans are in place, the question of technology arises.

Technology

After visualizing your needs, how can you know if you have the technology in place to meet them?

Assess your technology infrastructure against your business requirements and MSSS alignments.

Empower your specialist and technical teams. Cooperation between different areas such as security, configuration, maintenance and innovation is essential. It’s never too early to break down barriers and encourage cooperation since Power BI dashboards are only the first step in decision support. New possibilities are on the horizon with data science and artificial intelligence.

Be prepared for a paradigm shift. The lifecycle of local technologies is coming to an end and new cloud technologies are emerging. New storage methods (e.g., data lakes, blob storage, data virtualization) and technologies (Databricks, Snowflake, Azure Synapse) will require new skills. Make sure your employees receive training on cloud technologies. It may also be time to hire your first data engineer.

Don’t overlook your data platform’s users. Implement design standards and guidelines (modelling, naming, filters, usability) and ensure that data refresh performance is optimal when using data.

User adoption of technology is key to the success of any BI strategy.

People

Beyond technology knowledge and advanced data literacy, did you know that 85% of managers say they don’t understand the data being presented to them?

It’s important to nurture the human side of your BI project by developing the skills of your employees. Plan with sustainability in mind.

For a business intelligence project to live up to expectations, you have to take a step back and assess and understand what knowledge, skills and abilities your employees need.

Encourage personalized support, cooperation and co-creation. Using business opportunities to deploy your tools will motivate your information specialists and end users and make them feel part of what you’re doing.

“Learning is experience. Everything else is just information.” Albert Einstein

Give your staff time to adjust to changes in their routines and establish a continuous learning cycle.

Is data analytics a necessary evil for organizations? Yes. Is it necessarily a bad thing? No. It’s a worthwhile project when implemented with the right strategic vision, proper planning and a human touch.

CIM Conseil can help you implement a BI strategy to support your organization’s data culture, design and implement a modern data architecture, accelerate the delivery of your BI solutions and projects, and more. Our BI & Data Analytics Team provides healthcare institutions with the support and guidance they need to turn a necessary evil into a powerful solution.

Power BI for health care: an organizational and cross-functional project

Power BI for health care: an organizational and cross-functional project

Organization and culture

Data management and governance

Technology

People

The catalyst foryour success

The catalyst for
your success