After taking ownership of primary care, SCF made it a priority to improve its data and information practices to support the transformation of the health care system. In the years following, SCF began creating standardized data reports that could be used for multiple purposes, including making improvements and reporting to regulatory or granting agencies. Selected measures were reported on for each provider care team to build accountability into the system while also providing an overall picture that SCF could use to improve population health. SCF has carried this base system forward and worked to improve it ever since.
For some time, SCF’s data and information strategy was fragmented, with data being collected by grants and some SCF departments, including the Information Technology department when they had time. With support and direction from senior leadership, SCF embarked upon improving our approach to data and information management. The first step was to develop a data services department that brought together employees doing data analysis from departments and IT. This central data function was staffed with employees who were skilled in finding, reporting, and analyzing data. SCF developed a central repository for all data which allows for linkage between multiple operating systems and employed specialized analysts who developed relationships with various areas of SCF such as the clinics, Human Resources (HR), Finance, and Operations. SCF’s Data Services then developed a web-based reporting tool that displays up-to-date data and implemented a data management model, which operationalizes measures identified through the voice of the customer and our strategic planning process.
