A large part of the work my team does at WCA involves dashboarding, reporting, and benchmarking. We’ve gained a great deal of experience and insight on how to interpret and present the large amount of data we receive each day to better inform our clinical and business decisions. While there is value to be found in all of the reports, that value isn’t always accessible or relevant to everyone, and the information can be overwhelming.It’s important not to lose sight of the forest for the trees, so this year, we’ve been focusing on one metric to answer a simple question: How are we doing today?Included above is a screenshot of what I have come to call The Gosling* Index. The number is a "vital sign" for Wound Care Advantage and was created to solve the challenge of getting the "pulse" of how our centers are generally performing and sharing that information with everyone in the organization in a way we could all understand.With many of our corporate staff working in specialized departments both onsite or in remote offices, it can be a challenge for everyone to keep their bearings. In this case, the metric simply tells us if our operations are "okay" or not. If so, carry on. If not, dig in appropriately.Specifically, the index represents how our centers are performing based on the goals and standards we establish. We analyze EMR and other data sources and use an algorithm that weighs the values of a number key performance indicators (wound care and hyperbaric volumes, admissions, among others) and clinical measures (healing rates, advanced modality usage, etc.) to generate a performance rating of 0-100%.The individual center ratings are weighted and averaged to generate the final composite value, but no individual center’s raw value can be greater than 100%.Capping an individual center rating has interesting effects. It prevents extraordinary performance at one center from obscuring lackluster performance at another, ensuring that each of our facilities is properly accounted for. There is the additional effect that achieving Full Gosling is a practical near impossibility (94% is our record high), a subtle reminder that there is always room for improvement.The metric is displayed on large tablets in the common areas of our corporate office and has been effective not just in providing an objective measure of our daily status, but as a reminder to everyone of the value we bring to our partners.*The choice for the left end of the scale is based strictly on normative aesthetics and is no way a reflection on Steve Buschemi personally or a statement about his talent; his work in cinematic classics such as Fargo and Con Air stands on its own. He’s just kind of a weird-looking guy.