Data Warehouse User Group
June 23, 2011
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Migration from Cognos 7 to Cognos 8
What’s Happening?
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Between now and January 2012, we are upgrading our Cognos
suite of software from Cognos 7.4 to Cognos 8.4.
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The upgrade is more like a conversion, since Cognos series 7
reports can’t be opened in Cognos series 8
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Between now and the first Cognos 8.4 training in August 2011, I
will be scheduling meetings with users from each department to
review existing reports and discuss individual needs
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All Cognos users will need to attend an 8.4 training
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All PowerPlay and Impromptu reports will need to be recreated
in 8.4.
Why are we Upgrading?
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Sunsetting of Cognos 7 software
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Incompatible with Windows 7
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Cognos/IBM will not support this version in the future
Current users running the Windows 7 operating system can’t
access PowerPlay or Impromptu directly
Candice and department IT folks have had to create Virtual
Machines (VMs) for these users as a work-around
Sometimes the work-arounds create problems of their own
Problems will only grow the longer we wait
To prepare ourselves for the Epic/Apex data
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Epic reporting data will only be available through Cognos 8
Benefits of Upgrading
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Cognos 8 is Web based!
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Easy Deployment compared to our current setup
Current Installs
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No more Impromptu Catalog!
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Are done on individual workstations, which are difficult to maintain
Have to be scheduled and/or coordinated with your internal IT depts – causing
delays
Have to be redone every time a user gets a new computer, or that computer gets
reimaged
Periodic updates requiring you to following instructions exactly are no longer
necessary!
Improved Report Management
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Your reports will automatically be saved to your Personal Folder on the Cognos server,
so no more scouring your drives to find your reports
Reports published by the medical group will be saved in a Public Folder, so that all
users can access them
You’ll have the ability to schedule your reports to run automatically!
You’ll have some ability to save results of previously run reports
Reports files are automatically backed up
Benefits of Upgrading
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Additional functionality
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Medical Group will be creating several standard/pre-defined reports, which require the
user only to enter desired parameters
Pre-defined reports will be based on cubes as well as detailed records from the
database (currently Impromptu-level reports)
Prompt reporting is much, much simpler to set up and use and will be available
through Query Studio (detailed data) as well as Analysis Studio (cubes)
Interface for Analysis Studio and Query Studio are similar in 8.4, so knowing how to
use one will spill-over into your use of the other…NOT currently true of PowerPlay and
Impromptu
Report Subjects are defined by packages, so that “Transaction” reporting, in the user’s
view, is already separated from “Line Item” reporting…no more worrying about
accidentally “crossing folders”
Enhanced Output/Save As choices
Many, many more that we’re not aware of yet
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We will be on the same version as Campus
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Simplified reports can open the warehouse data up to a whole new set of users
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Pre-defined reports created using a tool called Report Studio can be opened, viewed
and saved by users who don’t consider themselves “reporting” people
What this means for you
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2011 Training Schedule
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Trainings will begin in August
We currently have a total of 7 two-day sessions reserved at the Computer Training
room at Laurel Heights (room 307) through the end of October. Please try to attend at
least one of these
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Aug 10, 11 (Wed, Thur)
Aug 17, 18 (Wed, Thur)
Aug 24, 25 (Wed, Thur)
Sept 15, 16 (Thur, Fri)
Sept 22, 23 (Thur, Fri)
Oct 11, 12 (Tue, Wed)
Oct 18, 19 (Tue, Wed)
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As with our current training, you are always welcome to attend additional sessions
(space permitting)
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However, with Epic trainers blocking out entire months, future trainings may be hard to
secure, so don’t procrastinate!
More about Training
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Trainings will take place over 2 days, and will combine Training and Report-Writing
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Day 1 = Training
Day 2 = Report-Writing Workshop
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Day 2 is intended to offer you a day with the trainer to *recreate* your most essential
(or most often used) Cognos reports
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In order to prepare for this, I’ll be scheduling meetings with you and the other users in
your department between now and August in order to review those reports.
Register Next Week
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I’ll be sending out an email to all current license holders late next week. The email
will include a link to the training registration page on our website, along with simple
instructions. Please don’t register now, as the dates haven’t been posted yet.
Users will likely be enrolled on a first-come, first-served basis while seats are available.
Users with a high volume of PowerPlay and Impromptu reports should take the earliest
training available to them, as they’ll need more time to convert all their reports
More about Training
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This first round of training sessions will teach very basic concepts
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Later trainings teaching more advanced concepts will be offered in 2012
You will be taught what you need to generate the same data you’re currently getting
out of 7.4
There is no way to guarantee that formats will remain the same or similar; our
immediate goal is to recreate the data outputs you currently receive
The time I spend meeting with you prior to training will give me a better sense of what
we need to accomplish prior to 2012
Everyone will be Trained in Analysis Studio and Query Studio
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Cognos 7
PowerPlay 
Impromptu 
Cognos 8
Analysis Studio (source: cubes)
Query Studio (source: database objects)
Conversion Timeline
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The medical group is aiming to sunset Cognos 7.4 in January 2012
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This might seem ambitious, but there are several factors working in our favor:
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8.4 cubes look and act so much like 7.4 cubes that the transition from PowerPlay to Analysis
Studio shouldn’t be a difficult one
Cubes in 8.4 will be built to mimic 7.4 as much as possible, and the folder structure in Query
Studio will be built to resemble the current folder structure in Impromptu, so data items should
be easy to locate
Much of what you already learned about PowerPlay and Impromptu in previous trainings will
spill over into Cognos 8.4
One of my goals during our individual meetings leading up to training is to streamline or
combine two or more of your reports into one. This will mean recreating fewer reports in 8.4
You’ll have the medical group’s help recreating the more “complex” of your reports
The medical group is still deciding the best way to roll-out 8.4 and disable access to
7.4
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Apart from Prism Producer Dashboard reports, *all other* PowerPlay and Impromptu reports
should be recreated in 8.4 by end of January
While our main goal is to have everyone converted by January 2011, we are discussing how
best to do this in an organized manner
We may roll-out by department; i.e. once all Anesthesia users have recreated their essential
reports, we would then disable the 7.4 accounts of all Anesthesia users
May do an exclusive training for the MGBS folks, as their reports is likely represent the bulk of
existing Cognos reports.
Prism Producer Reports, currently built on 7.4 cubes, are exempt from this timeline!
Cube Similarities and Differences
(I’ve noticed so far)
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Analysis Studio – Similarities
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Drag and drop remains essentially the same
Most actions can be invoked by right-clicking your mouse
Insertable Objects pane mimics the current Dimension Viewer
Data can be nested into rows or columns
Drill-thru ability
Screenshot of the
Comb_Utilization cube
in Cognos 8.4
Cube Similarities and Differences
(I’ve noticed so far)
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Analysis Studio – Differences
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Now accessed through your browser (Internet Explorer)
No more Layers; instead, you set up page break between items you want separated
*Filter Definitions* are clearly visible in the report output
Can filter on multiple items in one dimension without having them displayed on the Report (below)
Lots more dialog boxes , but no more shortcut keys
Screenshot of the
Comb_Utilization cube
in Cognos 8.4
Getting Ready for Epic/Apex
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Our “goal” for Epic: minimal disruption to regular reporting
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Currently assume that Pro-Fee Billing (a.k.a. Resolute or Resolute PB) will go live April
2012
We plan on bringing up the new “Epic” cubes and drill-thru detail within a month or
two of go- live date
Most cubes remain essentially the same in content and structure; only
the dimensions will change to reflect Epic constructs; for example
IDX Dimension 
Provider
Location
Billing Area (disappears)
FSC
Division
PSA Department
Apex Dimension
Provider
Location (street address)
Epic Department**
Epic Plan and Payer
Epic Department (DEP) table, Grouper #7
A group of Epic Departments (DEP’s)
**(not a one-to-one mapping, but essentially serves the same function)
Getting Ready for Epic/Apex
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Combining IDX and Epic reporting data
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Just as we currently do to combine IDX and SMS data for reporting, we will find the
lowest-common-denominator in both systems and roll up to those dimensions. For
example, currently:
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IDX billing areas and SMS GL keys both roll up to DBS/Cost Centers
We roll SMS Financial Classes up to the IDX FSC Cateogory (RC2) level
These give us the ability to report PSA Pro-fee data at the Cost Center and FSC
Category level.
We lose some of the IDX detail when we do this (i.e. Comb_Utilization vs. Utilization
cube), but we ensure that we are truly comparing apples to apples.
Since we will continue to have run-out claims data trickle into IDX even after go-live in April
2012, Cubes and Tables based on solely IDX data will continue to be populated and made
available for query through 8.4
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However, as time goes on, more and more of the cubes and tables will likely reflect Epiconly data
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Some of the objects currently being modeled and built for us by PDS only include Epic data
(we’ll talk more in future meetings)
Other Things we know about
Epic/Apex data
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No “disconnect” between Sched/Reg data and Claims dictionaries
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Currently, SCHED and BAR use different dictionaries with no one-to-one
correspondence (for example, Billing Areas vs. Sched Departments). This
does not seem to be the case in Epic.
Pro-fee data will continue to be billed out of two systems
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Resolute Pro-Fee billing will generate HCFA bills, while Resolute Hospital
billing will generate UB’s
The same challenges presented by current SMS charges and payments
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Payments are not posted to the CPT/Line Item level in SMS
Service/Billing provider does not need to be identified for every CPT billed on a
UB
Hospital Payment Allocation System remains the same as before
These issues will be tackled the same way with respect to reporting when
Epic goes live; i.e. “Combined” cubes may have less detail than the Epic
cubes built solely off of Professional Billing (PB)