Walk into any clinic in the ThedaCare™ system in central Wisconsin and you will see walls lined with data that is organized around the True North compass. Unlike other compasses, the points of the True North compass indicate quality, employee engagement, productivity, and the customer experience. Metrics on these four points are captured at every level, from the work area (lab, call center, provider) to the clinic, to the division, and through to the corporate level.
Each zone of the clinic has its own 6 feet by 6 feet data board that displays run charts of metrics under each of these categories of the True North compass. Even patients are part of the measurement focus. The percentage of no-shows and patients who arrive on time are tracked and reported on graphs in the waiting area.
Once a week the clinic leadership team does walking rounds to review metrics and discuss improvement strategies within a particular area. Each data set is rolled up to the clinic manager who reports data to regional leadership along the True North framework. In addition, once a month the physicians, nurses, medical assistants, reception members, and quality improvement specialists meet to review quality data and identify improvement strategies within their area.