Travis County Health Department · Government · Austin, TX · 12 weeks
Public health surveillance dashboards deployed to 180 staff
Travis County Health Department relied on 14 manual Excel reports that required three full-time analysts. We replaced all of them with automated Power BI dashboards, cutting $620,000 in annual labor costs and delivering real-time disease tracking.
Challenge
The epidemiology team spent 80% of their time manually compiling 14 weekly and monthly Excel reports. They extracted data from four different systems, formatted it by hand, and distributed the reports themselves. This left no time for meaningful analysis, and weekly updates meant real-time disease tracking was out of the question.
Outcome
By week 12, we replaced 14 static reports with interactive Power BI dashboards. This cut annual reporting labor costs from $620K to $80K. The epidemiology team regained 80% of their time, shifting focus from data prep to analysis. Three weeks after launch, during a norovirus outbreak, the new real-time dashboard helped the team identify the source four days faster than before.
Results
- $620K Annual reporting labor saved
- 14 Manual reports automated
- 180 Staff with real-time access
- 4 hrs Surveillance data refresh cycle
Before, my epidemiologists were spending around 80% of their time just putting together Excel reports. Now, they use that time to focus on the actual epidemiology work. The real-time surveillance dashboard has already changed how we manage outbreaks.