Doing more with more information: Changing healthcare planning with OLAP tools

On-line analytical processing (OLAP) is an example of a new breed of tools for decision support that give decision makers the flexibility to customize the selection, aggregation, and presentation of data. To understand the impact of this type of tool, we study an implementation of an OLAP interface on the CATCH data warehouse used by knowledge workers at a regional health planning agency in the State of Florida. The results of a qualitative field study show that after the OLAP implementation, these workers made use of the additional capabilities of OLAP (e.g., aggregation levels and intuitive data manipulation), thereby leveraging their individual abilities to enhance and expand on the tasks they performed for their community. Consequently, they were able to perform in more of a consultative role to their clients, and improved their reputation in the community they serve. This research adds a new dimension to prior research in data warehousing by focusing on the decision support capabilities of OLAP.