Medical School Team Wins Business Intelligence Award for M-Dash Software

ANN ARBOR, MI – M-Dash, a web-based system of tools that allows for quick data analyses and financial, space, clinical, and faculty planning many years into the future, is a winner of a U-M Business Intelligence Data-Into-Action Award. The Advisors on Information Management Strategy and Michigan Administrative Information Services presented the M-Dash team with the award during the Business Intelligence Community of Experts luncheon on March 13.

James Woolliscroft, M.D., Interim Dean, U-M Medical School, and several Medical School administrators nominated the M-Dash project.

“Thanks to a tremendous effort by the M-Dash team, the U-M Medical School has an incredibly innovative and valuable strategic tool that makes it possible for us to manage our resources more efficiently,” offers Woolliscroft. “I’m very pleased that our Medical School team won this award: this recognition by the University validates the team’s excellent work in developing a superb management tool.”

M-Dash, short for M-Dashboard, pulls together a wide variety of statistical data about the Medical School and turns it into easy-to-understand and useful charts, graphs and projections. As an example, it can be used to evaluate productivity of faculty members and departments, which can be critical when trying to forecast future research needs, such as when a new research building may be required. M-Dash received national attention last year in Academic Medicine and Business Week. Locally, it was featured in the Ann Arbor Business Review.

“This tool developed by the Medical School provides the basis for intelligent business decisions,” says Bill Elger, executive director for administration and chief financial officer of the U-M Medical School. “It is a very useful tool, and I’m pleased that the University is recognizing its value with this Business Intelligence award. The development team deserves this recognition for its outstanding work.”

M-Dash has helped the Medical School respond to the changing trends in how medical schools are financed. The development team created a set of key performance indicators, which demonstrate how certain activities shape the use of resources and provide greater understanding about optimizing those resources. Tools like M-Dash are used to spot general financial trends or examine specific data elements, such as trends in grant funding, utilization of research space, calculating the break-even cost of research, and model various “what if” scenarios to help plan effectively for the future needs of the Medical School.

“We’re very pleased to receive this honor,” said Karen Dannemiller, project leader and associate director, Medical School Information Services. “We’re very proud of the excellent teamwork that was in play for this project – from the vision and support given to us to the detailed technical work that made it come together so well.”

The following people were on the M-Dash team: Tony Chan, Vince Chmielewski, Matt Comstock, Karen Dannemiller, Michael Frickman, Jennifer Gillespie, Lorrie Harvey, Mary Hill, Will Jaynes, Deb Komorowski, Michelle Leung, Bruce Meier, Brett Miller, Dave Mohr, Gary Nichols, Patti Nurse, Heather Offhaus, Peggi Pfeffer, Bennett Stallone, Gus Teschke, Robin Wagner, and Marilyn Warner.

The U-M Business Intelligence Community of Experts is a network of people actively involved in Business Intelligence at U-M. These professionals work with the U-M Business Intelligence Council to encourage sharing of BI expertise University-wide .