Visualizing Health and Healthcare Data - Highlights

Key takeaways from Episode #24 - Visualizing Health and Healthcare Data of Bill Shander's Data Visualization, Data Storytelling, and Information Design - Lesson and Listen Series:

• Data visualization principles apply across industries, but domain expertise is crucial for effective communication.
• Healthcare data requires domain knowledge to ensure accuracy and helpfulness.
• Domain expertise is essential in healthcare data visualization due to its complexity and nuances.
• There are no homogeneous audiences, and healthcare data often involves multiple groups with competing points of view.
• Healthcare data often has life-and-death consequences, as seen during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Proper scaling (linear vs. logarithmic) and clear communication of concepts (e.g., efficacy vs. effectiveness) are critical in healthcare data visualization.
• In the Listen section of the episode, Kathy Rowell, author of "Visualizing Health and Healthcare Data," shares insights on how to visualize health and healthcare data:
• You can't improve what you can't see. 
• Data visualization is a learned skill 
• Software alone is not the solution
• It takes a team
• Process and framework in data visualization are important.
• Create personas to address diverse audiences.
• Understand the difference between dashboards, reports, multidimensional exploratory displays and infographics

"When you go into these projects, data is like a 5,000-piece puzzle. All the puzzle pieces are blue and there is no picture on the cover of the puzzle box."

Recommended reading:

Visualizing Health and Healthcare Data by Lindsay Betzendahl, Cambria Brown, Katherine Rowell