Spread Sheets, not bed sheets!

I can't really recommend a particular book because the spreadsheets are 100% what you make them.

The point of the spreadsheet is to take all those different random points of "data" so you can turn that data into "information," something your colleagues can use and act upon.

Besides dashboards provided to me by my corporate overlords, from which I can download large raw data Excel files, I make my own sheets for concurrent review. I only include what I need to know -- and as the months have gone on and priorities have shifted I've added and removed columns when I realized I needed certain data I wasn't collecting. I get my data from going into the EMR every single day. There are some reports that can pull the info I need but a lot of it is just digging.

Any Excel Dummies book or online site can show you how to quickly make a pretty chart out of your data. I pull the data out separately and make it into some rows and columns, then highlight them all and right click to select which chart or graph I need. Then it's easy to play with colors and styles.

Do you have a business intelligence unit?

These are the people you need to talk to....

IHI (Institute for Healthcare Improvement) Open School has some great modules. Some are free, some are not. If you work in a hospital they may already have a log-in you can use, or have the resources to purchase one.