The Data Fluent Culture - Data Fluency: Empowering Your Organization with Effective Data Communication - page 144

are referenced in the database system. Employees record information onto
data forms following specified procedures and then key the information from
these forms into the program database. Employees should not need nor be
allowed to enter their own codes or variables because this causes data entry
errors and hurts reliability and validity.

Develop a common understanding of data fields. . Leaders should insist on
a shared understanding of data fields. You can't rally around key metrics if
people have different interpretations of data fields that are keeping track of
those metrics.

the challenge of emeRging new healthcaRe facility types—
definitional diffeRences and data

One source of miscommunication at a large insurance company was the
definitional difference between inpatient (IP) versus outpatient and how data
was aggregated for these two categories. It seems simple: Inpatient care
happens in a hospital and outpatient care happens outside of a hospital.
With the goal of brainstorming how to decrease the number of IP ACUTE
episodes by high-risk members (members with diabetes, cardiovascular
disease, and chronic kidney disease), the meeting devolved quickly. Team
members realized that IP ACUTE included long-term acute care hospitals
(LTACHs) and skilled nursing facilities (SNFs). Having a member at an SNF
or LTACH as compared to a traditional hospital, however, had different cost
implications. A meeting objective of trying to figure out what member
characteristics and factors would be predictive of an inpatient episode
devolved into a definitional discussion of what was an inpatient versus
what was an outpatient. As a result of the confusion, the team defined
inpatient acute as a traditional hospital episode and outpatient as a term
was discarded in favor of a breakout of non-IP ACUTE possibilities. These
outcomes included LTACHs, SNFs, ALFs, and home health. Outpatient care
as defined as ambulatory was left for another day.

Understanding the origin of a word or term can help provide deeper under-
standing into the everyday language of an organization. The sources of data
provide the etymology of data and create a
deeper shared understanding among team
members who understand the root words
of data.

Definition Data is the plural form of the word datum, which in
Latin means “something given.”