Bob Luttman, Robert Luttman & Associates
Operational Issues: Documentation and Reporting
Too Much Data
Traditional Pathway / Variance Documentation
Too Much Data!
Many organizations begin their pathways program trying to collect data on all variances. We call this drinking from the fire hose. You will literally drown in data. In fact, this approach has killed variance programs and even the overall pathways program.
Collecting too much data exacerbates the statistical issues above. It also is a logistical nightmare. Most variance data is worthless, it provides no relevant information for managing or improving processes.
Other organizations attempt to reduce the data collection load by identifying key - or critical - variances: those activities or outcomes that they believe affect some outcome. This is a legitimate option, as long as you can control for multi-collinearity and the halo effect.
Even the latter approach is limited, however, by the traditional clinical pathways/variance documentation format and process.
