Standardization: Creating consistency and compliance across public health portfolios

By

Sam Gumble

, Tara Cohn

, and Jonathan Greene

Last Updated Mar 26, 2026

By

Sam Gumble

, Tara Cohn

, and Jonathan Greene

This article is part of a series focused on how supporting construction teams with the best tools drives efficiency and supports the overall and unique goal of quality patient care.

For major healthcare organizations, leaders are charged with overseeing projects that meet budget, scope, and quality targets on schedule while expanding capacity to meet patient care goals. The efficiency of project delivery through construction phases directly impacts those goals.  

In this context, when data management lacks standardization project outcomes suffer. Leadership can set the tone through standardized data practices and consistent implementation to boost success and support the end goal of quality patient care.

The high cost of fragmentation: Why data standardization is a financial requirement

Disparate data systems and manual processes can hinder the delivery of projects that meet the strict demands of healthcare. Standardized data collection and workflows enable owners to stay in control by streamlining operations and improving decision-making accuracy for all teams. 

Standardization transforms raw data into actionable insights. This enables real-time visibility, which facilitates disciplined delivery and improved efficiency. By streamlining processes, standardization increases profitability. It also reduces input redundancies and minimizes time-consuming data searches for downstream partners.

From raw data to defensible insights

Standardize financial controls.

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  What digital tools do

  Establish a uniform, time-phased budget structure across all projects. This creates a repeatable oversight structure that allows for accurate financial tracking that syncs with your accounting system.

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  Public sector KPI

  Track the accuracy of cost forecasts against actual spend to demonstrate improved predictability and fiscal responsibility to the board or public committee.

We don’t have the time to spend hours tracking down answers across multiple systems. With a capital portfolio management system, we can access real-time project data instantly — whether it’s budget status, schedule updates, or pending approvals.

Chris Lucas

Director of Construction

Tampa General Hospital

Standardize approval workflows.

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  What digital tools do

  Implement automated approval workflows that ensure the right stakeholders are notified of financial risks immediately. This removes manual bottlenecks and creates a transparent audit trail of every workflow decision and attachment.

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  Public sector KPI

  Measure the reduction in payment liability and the speed of the submission-to-approval cycle to make sure external partners are paid accurately and on time, reducing project friction.

Standardize portfolio reporting.

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  What digital tools do

  Use formatted and templatized data to create a single source of truth. This allows for side-by-side bid leveling and portfolio-wide analytics that help identify historical trends to make projects more cost-effective.

• ---

  Public sector KPI

  Assess data integrity by measuring the decrease in duplicate data entry and the time saved during annual or project-end audits.

The power of standardization

Standardization frees up time and resources, allowing teams to concentrate on core activities and reduce stress for leadership. This results in more efficient financial management.

By leading the charge, owners can oversee the efficient delivery of jobs with the utmost operational success, unlocking significant value at every phase of the project — and supporting the care of future patients.

Written by

Sam Gumble

Sr. Solutions Engineer, Healthcare | Procore Technologies

Sam Gumble is an experienced engineer with a background in process management and chemical and mechanical systems. He is a key figure in driving Procore’s product and technology vision, particularly for owners. Sam has a proven track record of optimizing business processes and digitizing legacy systems. Through this leadership, he guides organizations and institutions in adopting technology solutions that improve efficiencies.

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Tara Cohn

Director | Wipfli LLP

12 articles

Tara Cohn is a director with over 15 years of experience in providing healthcare data analytics services. She helps leaders improve decision-making and achieve success with the use of data analytics. Tara’s experience includes provider practice, hospital/health system and healthcare startup/technology. She is a healthcare subject matter expert and has supported initiatives across operations, clinical care, quality, compliance, patient experience, population health, marketing, strategic planning, finance, revenue cycle and human resources. Tara’s passion is in leveraging data analytics to help organizations achieve their full potential with a focus on transparency, optimization and automation via the power of data storytelling.

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Jonathan Greene

Writer

15 articles

Jon Greene is a freelance educator, writer, and award winning theater maker. As an educational writer he has created content, lessons, and led seminars for Young Audiences of Louisiana, Hynes Charter System in New Orleans, Centre Stage School of the Arts in Singapore, 'Friends of The Museum' Docent Workshop in Singapore, The Prague Public High School System, Moleac Pharmaceuticals, and with the Grand Portage Ojibwa Tribe. His work and writing for theater has been featured in Howlround and American Theater Magazine and he is the recipient of 2 regional theater awards in his home of New Orleans. He is a BFA Graduate of Boston University and a previous Kennedy Center Fellow.

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