Digital dashboards: a speech pathology case study.

The introduction of electronic medical records has created vast opportunities in relation to data storage, visibility and extraction. In Allied Health the collection, storage, display and reporting of service statistics is a key opportunity to utilise the capabilities of the electronic medical record to reduce clinician time completing data entry, improve accuracy and visibility of available data and maximise opportunities to view and utilise service statistic information in clinical and operational decision making. This case study describes service statistic capture and extraction for a speech pathology department, pre- and post- the introduction of a digital dashboard. A new Allied Health digital dashboard was created via clinicians and informaticians working collaboratively to define service delivery elements for data extraction and design dashboard functionality. Descriptive comparison of data capture pre- and post- dashboard implementation was undertaken. The integration of service statistic information into a digital dashboard was found to support service statistic reporting, improve ease of access, and provide greater visibility and timeliness of service information. What is known about the topic? Service statistic data capturing and reporting systems used prior to the digital medical record required additional clinician entry processes, and lacked visibility, transparency and timeliness of reporting. What does this paper add? This paper describes a case study of the use of an electronic dashboard linked to the Electronic Medical Record to capture and report service statistics. What are the implications for practitioners? A real-time service statistic dashboard can remove a significant burden of manual reporting for staff, and help improve the transparency, visibility and timeliness of data availability for staff and managers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]