Lab Intelligence Planning

Lab Intelligence Planning

Guide lab managers and data science teams through designing, building, and governing a portfolio of BI products for clinical laboratories.

Workflows

This skill supports three primary workflows. Determine which applies based on user intent:

Discovery Workflow

Use when assessing current state or identifying what to build.

Step 1: Inventory Current State

Gather information about existing BI products:

• What reports/dashboards exist today?
• Who uses each one? How frequently?
• What systems source the data (LIS, LIMS, EHR, instruments)?
• What pain points exist (manual processes, data gaps, stale reports)?

Step 2: Map Stakeholder Needs

Load references/personas.md and work through each relevant persona:

• Which personas are served by current products?
• Which personas have unmet needs?
• What decisions does each persona need to make?

Step 3: Identify Portfolio Gaps

Load references/portfolio-types.md and assess coverage:

• Which archetype categories are well-covered?
• Which are missing or weak?
• Are there redundant products serving the same need?

Step 4: Prioritize Opportunities

For each gap identified, assess:

• Impact: How many personas benefit? How critical are their decisions?
• Feasibility: Is data available? What integration effort?
• Urgency: Regulatory deadline? Safety concern? Strategic initiative?

Output a prioritized backlog of BI products to build or improve.

Design Workflow

Use when specifying a new dashboard, report, or data product.

Step 1: Define the Product

Establish scope:

• Name: Clear, descriptive title
• Primary persona(s): Who is this for? (Load references/personas.md if needed)
• Archetype: Which category? (Load references/portfolio-types.md if needed)
• Key questions answered: What decisions will this enable?

Step 2: Specify Content

For each visualization or data element:

• Metric/measure: What is being shown?
• Dimensions: How can it be sliced (time, section, instrument, staff)?
• Comparisons: Targets, benchmarks, prior periods?
• Drill-down paths: What details should be accessible?

Load references/quality-indicators.md for standard KPIs by lab phase and specialty.

Step 3: Define Interactions

Specify user experience:

• Filters: What parameters can users control?
• Refresh frequency: Real-time, hourly, daily, on-demand?
• Alerts/thresholds: What conditions trigger notifications?
• Export needs: PDF, Excel, API access?

Step 4: Validate with Stakeholders

Before building:

• Review specification with primary persona representatives
• Confirm metrics align with how they actually make decisions
• Identify any missing context or comparisons
• Agree on acceptable data latency and accuracy requirements

Governance Workflow

Use when establishing or improving portfolio management practices.

Step 1: Establish Ownership Model

Load references/governance.md for detailed guidance. Key decisions:

• Product owner: Who approves changes and prioritizes enhancements?
• Data steward: Who ensures data quality and definitions?
• Technical owner: Who maintains the implementation?

Step 2: Define Review Cadence

Establish recurring review cycles:

• Usage review (quarterly): Which products are used? By whom?
• Quality review (quarterly): Are metrics accurate? Definitions current?
• Strategic review (annual): Does portfolio align with lab priorities?

Step 3: Set Lifecycle Policies

Define criteria for each lifecycle stage:

• Promotion: From pilot to production
• Enhancement: When to invest in improvements
• Deprecation: When to retire (low usage, superseded, inaccurate)
• Archival: How long to retain historical access

Step 4: Manage Portfolio Health

Ongoing activities:

• Track usage metrics for all products
• Maintain a portfolio registry with ownership and status
• Conduct rationalization exercises to reduce redundancy
• Balance self-service enablement with governed core products

Output Formats

Portfolio Assessment Summary

When completing discovery, output:

# Lab Intelligence Portfolio Assessment

## Current State
- Total products: [N]
- Active/used: [N]
- Orphaned/unused: [N]

## Coverage by Archetype
| Category | Products | Gaps |
|----------|----------|------|
| Operational | ... | ... |
| Quality/Compliance | ... | ... |
| Financial | ... | ... |
| Clinical Decision Support | ... | ... |
| Strategic | ... | ... |

## Coverage by Persona
[Table showing which personas are well-served vs. underserved]

## Recommended Priorities
1. [Priority 1 with rationale]
2. [Priority 2 with rationale]
3. [Priority 3 with rationale]

Product Specification

When completing design, output:

# [Product Name] Specification

## Overview
- **Archetype**: [Category]
- **Primary personas**: [List]
- **Key questions answered**: [List]
- **Refresh frequency**: [Frequency]

## Content Specification
| Element | Metric | Dimensions | Target/Benchmark |
|---------|--------|------------|------------------|
| ... | ... | ... | ... |

## Interactions
- **Filters**: [List]
- **Drill-downs**: [List]
- **Alerts**: [Conditions and recipients]

## Data Requirements
- **Sources**: [Systems]
- **Latency**: [Acceptable delay]
- **Quality requirements**: [Accuracy, completeness]

## Governance
- **Product owner**: [Role]
- **Review cycle**: [Frequency]

Reference Files

Load these as needed based on the workflow:

• references/personas.md - Detailed stakeholder needs by role
• references/portfolio-types.md - Dashboard/report archetypes with examples
• references/governance.md - Lifecycle management, ownership, review practices
• references/quality-indicators.md - Standard KPIs by lab phase and specialty

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