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June 2017
Policy&Practice
23
Photo illustration by Chris Campbell
technology
speaks
By Debora Morris and Joseph Fiorentino
H
ealth and human services practi-
tioners understand the need for
policies and programs that are person
centered—for a coordinated health
and social care system that addresses
the behavioral and social determinants
of health and well-being.
Building this foundation for a
modern and responsive system
demands a new data mindset. Leaders
can start with three practices that chal-
lenge common wisdom about analytics
in health and social care.
1. Go Beyond Compliance
Health and human services agencies
have traditionally looked to data as a
means to meet federal compliance and
operational reporting requirements.
These responsibilities are regulatory by
definition, and they are a foundational
element of this work that will not go
away. Even so, agencies can think
beyond compliance when it comes to
data analytics. They can check the box
and think outside of it.
Breaking away from a compliance
mindset opens doors to new oppor-
tunities to reinvent service delivery
and build a stronger network of care
in the process. Too few of the world’s
social services agencies are actively
doing this today. Consider that just 29
percent of them use advanced analytics
for measuring performance and 21
percent use it to modernize and digitize
processes to meet people’s technology
expectations.
1
The biggest surprise is
that a mere 15 percent of agencies use
advanced analytics to improve service
delivery and meet expectations.
2. Get Speed to Insight
Agencies that want to develop their
own targeted analytics programs and
get results quickly need different tools
than most expect. Many decision-
makers think that they must start with
infrastructure. They assume the first
step is to invest in data warehouses,
data stores, and the hardware and
software necessary to support them.
This is an unnecessary heavy lift—an
expensive three- to five-year project
that more often than not does not yield
desired results for data analytics.
This lack of results happens because
while data warehouses have their
place in health and human services—
for compliance, reporting, and other
business intelligence needs—they do
not have to be the starting points for
analytics initiatives. These programs
do not require perfect data, or even
See Data Mindset on page 31
Yes, You Can!
A New Data Mindset to Improve Health and Human Services Outcomes