CHCF is a data-driven organization, guided by facts and evidence. We examine and use data throughout our work: to determine where to focus our funding; to produce data-oriented reports about California’s health care system to inform decisionmakers and policymakers in the field; and to collect and analyze data about our grantmaking. We do this to track the reach and effectiveness of our investments and to share this information, internally and externally, for learning purposes in discussions with CHCF colleagues, our partners, and our board.
Tracking Reach and Effectiveness of Our Work Through Grant Coding
Each year we fund 400 to 600 new grants and for each of these grants, we collect specific information at key junctures of the grant’s lifecycle:
- Proposal. Grantee provides information about the grant lead and the grantee team.
- Launch. Program officer codes information about the expected project risk, levers being pulled (i.e., vehicles being used to drive systemic change), tactics being used, and population being served.
- Close. Program officer answers reflection questions regarding their assessment of the grant overall, grantmaking lessons they would highlight for colleagues, and the grantee’s skills and expertise.
This information is entered into our electronic grants management platform (Salesforce) and the data are analyzed to inform learning conversations.
Ensuring Transparency and Accountability Through Dashboards
We annually produce an environmental indicators dashboard for our board that shares a higher level view of the environment we work in, such as the percentage of Californians who do not have health insurance, the percentage of Californians who have difficulty finding primary care, and the maternal mortality rate. The data presented are not direct measures of CHCF’s impact, as any measurable change in the complex systems in which we work will take a much broader, cross-institutional effort. Rather, the environmental dashboard is meant to help us track progress (or regression) overall and serve as a barometer of the California health care system.
Providing Updates on Program Work Though President’s Reports
At quarterly board meetings, President’s Reports, prepared by staff, are shared. These are short reports on our work (e.g., update on a major grant, challenges or progress in a particular body of work) and/or specific topics relevant to our work that we need to track (e.g., the state’s annual budget, state and national elections). The reports focus on qualitative data and paint a picture of the work as a way to look beyond what is presented in the programmatic dashboard.