Data Storyteller

In the 2022 UDS, United States health centers reported 7,328,565 of their 16,835,841 eligible medical patients (43.53%) were tested for HIV at least once after their 15th birthday and before their 66th birthday.

Health centers have the power to analyze their UDS data through the HITEQ UDS Clinical Quality Dashboards, which were recently updated with the latest UDS data to include 10 years' worth of clinical information. HITEQ hosted a webinar to learn about the multiple ways that the dashboards can present your organizations’ clinical data across years, and compare it to customized comparison groups of other health centers, to explore potential drivers of results. The HITEQ UDS Clinical Quality Dashboards have evolved and improved each year to provide new analysis options. The Dashboards present the UDS data in a flexible and readily understandable graphical format and deliver an organization-specific version of the content to each health center, HCCN, and PCA via a web interface built on Tableau. Each organization's access allows them to see the data relevant to their center while protecting the data of other organizations.

Health centers, HCCN, and PCAs joined HITEQ to see how the dashboards can provide them with data to answer many questions such as: 

• As a homeless health center, how does our clinical quality compare to homeless health centers nationally?
• As a small health center, which we choose to define as those with <10,000 medical patients, does it appear that our size is a driver of our clinical results compared to other health centers?
• How have the trends in my clinical outcomes over the past 5 years compared to similar health centers in states that I consider relevant to mine?

Health centers are interested in using social determinants data to manage and improve the health of their patient population and community, and are at different places on the population health management (PHM) and social determinants of health (SDH) adoption curve. The Protocol for Responding to and Assessing Patients’ Assets, Risks, and Experiences (PRAPARE) is a national effort to help health centers and other providers collect the data needed to better understand and act on their patients’ social determinants of health. In this webinar, the Colorado Community Managed Care Network (CCMCN), a Health Center Controlled Network (HCCN) highlighted a Tableau data dashboard that they have developed to help their health centers make decisions on population health management. They discussed the rationale for developing the tool, challenges and facilitators to integration, and how their health centers benefit from data sharing across Tableau.

Data dashboards help communicate information to your health center staff, clinicians and partners. However the development process can be daunting. Where do I start? Who is part of the process? What tools should I use? Many people start by choosing the tool, but before identifying the tool, it is helpful to think through the users and the design process. This primer walks you through steps to dashboard design and how to choose the right dashboard tool.