Clinical and quality data that is available at the point of care and easy to visualise is an essential component of high-performing healthcare teams. Dashboards have historically been utilised within the business sector as tools to guide decision making.

They are now gaining popularity in healthcare in order to display complex information through easily understood graphs, tables and images. Increasingly, dashboards are integrated into electronic medical records and used to portray operational activity and present clinical data within and across health services.

In 2020-2021, Monash Partners supported several research Fellows, Ms Lauren Lawlor and Dr Lavinia Tran, to explore the use of data dashboards across Monash Partners and to identify an easy to use evidence-based methodology to guide the development of data dashboards in healthcare and clinical registry settings.

They undertook a co-design approach that included a review of the literature, qualitative interviews with key stakeholders, including experts within business intelligence (BI) and/or clinical informatics units across our health partners.

The strategies utilised included: peer reviewed literature which reported measurable improvements, expert opinion and stakeholder input, combined with several case studies, which led to a co-designed product.

The purpose of the project titled Visual representation models to improve access and utilisation of health data: clinical dashboards across Monash Partners was to explore the use of data dashboards across Monash Partners and identify an easy to use evidence-based methodology to guide the development of data dashboards in healthcare and clinical registry settings.

For more on data dashboards or to access a copy of the Visual representation models to improve access and utilisation of health data: clinical dashboards across Monash Partners report contact Ms Alison Johnson via email: c-informp@monash.edu