Today’s #Covid_19 applied #informatics lessons learned from @BJC_HealthCare @WUSTLmed @WashUi2 ... the theme = “closing the loop”

1. Allot of key analytic questions require us to “close the loop”, connecting surrogate measures to outcome(s) of interest – for example, trying to understand how many HCW’s have tested COVID+, furloughed, and ideally, have returned to work …

2. These data are important when we try to understand issues like the impact of #Covid_19 on our healthcare workforce, where we need to identify critical trends in either potential exposure and/or HCW availability in environments with high demand …

3. Unfortunately, these data often live across systems and organizational units, so to “connect the dots”, you need bridge people, data sets, and delivery formats, all at the same time – this is all about “data detective work” + organizing people around shared mission!

4. And today’s bonus tweet … these types of issues have made me think allot about “story telling with data” and how this is so important when dealing with difficult to obtain/explain measures – a quick read on this topic from HBR: https://hbr.org/2013/04/how-to-tell-a-story-with-data