Designing effective interventions to execute on a DE&I strategy starts with understanding: what is happening in an organization, how it is happening and who is it happening to. Good, healthy analytics tell the story and answer the who, what and whom questions. Mass General Brigham was to collect various data to tell a complete story, so an accountability system could be developed, and leaders could understand when change had occurred. 

In 2014, Mass General Brigham began collecting demographic data on its workforce, including physicians, nurses and other clinicians. Analyzed were areas in: workforce representation, termination patterns, hiring trends, applicant pools and talent flows. In addition, employee engagement data, based on perceptions, allowed us to understand if all employees were experiencing the same quality of work life. An internal labor market analysis provided invaluable feedback on how our talent progressed through the organization and where there were choke points. Collectively, the data allowed us to understand what was occurring in our organization and to whom and how to measure progress.

After five years of collecting all the above data during different cycles, we’ve created a baseline of understanding and reality of where our challenges lay, and our strengths emerge. We’re able to complete action plans to address the challenges both at the system-wide level and at the institution level. Having this capacity has provided us with a means to strategically move in a concerted direction while measuring our progress in two-year intervals. 

This data is prompting the question, “how does a high performing workforce impact high quality patient care?” Seldom in healthcare is the connection made between how the workforce (tends not to include clinicians/physicians in the definition) impacts patient care. Just the raising of the question or the awareness that there may be a connection is a first step to empowering the organization.