Industry: Healthcare
Location: Ontario, Canada (multi-location)
About the Client:
The organization is a multi-location healthcare provider operating clinics across Ontario. With multiple locations and teams, leadership needed a clear, consistent way to understand performance across the organization while ensuring that staff only had access to the data relevant to their own location.
Like many growing healthcare organizations, the client already had access to financial and operational data, but turning that data into something usable, trusted, and part of daily operations was the real challenge.
The Project:
The organization wanted to provide high-level performance dashboards to multiple locations, using data that already existed in Excel. The goal was not to build complex financial tools, but to give staff and managers a clear, accessible view of how their location was performing and how it compared to overall averages.
There were several important constraints. Not all users had strong financial or technical backgrounds, access needed to be restricted by location, and the solution had to fit naturally into existing workflows. Adoption was the real risk. If accessing reports required new tools, new logins, or training-heavy processes, the system would simply not be used.
Licensing costs were also a concern. Usage was expected to be periodic rather than constant, and a traditional per-user BI licensing model would have created unnecessary ongoing expense for a tool that would not be used every day by every user.
Objective
The objective of this project was to deliver a performance reporting system that:
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- Makes performance data easy to access and easy to use
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- Ensures users only see data for their own location, while still allowing comparison to overall averages
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- Fits seamlessly into existing staff workflows
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- Minimizes training and change management
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- Avoids per-user licensing cost traps
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- Keeps operational and maintenance overhead low
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- Scales as the organization grows
Most importantly, the system had to drive adoption. This was not a reporting project. It was an adoption and usability project.
Key Tasks and Solutions
Embedding Power BI into the Existing WordPress Intranet: The client already had an internal portal built on WordPress. Instead of introducing a new standalone BI tool, ACT360 embedded Power BI reports directly into the existing intranet experience. This meant staff accessed performance dashboards in a system they already used, with no change to their daily habits.
Seamless Login with Microsoft 365 SSO: Users authenticate using their existing Office 365 accounts. There are no new usernames or passwords to manage, no separate BI portal to remember, and no additional onboarding steps.
Role-Based Data Security with Azure: Access is controlled through Azure role-based permissions. Each user can only see data for the location or locations they are assigned to. At the same time, the dashboards also allow users to compare their location’s performance to overall averages. This ensures sensitive data stays properly segmented without adding operational complexity.
Usage-Based Power BI Embedded Capacity: Instead of using traditional per-user Power BI licensing, ACT360 implemented Power BI Embedded capacity. The system is configured so that:
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- The Power BI capacity turns on when someone views a report
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- The capacity automatically shuts down when users leave the page
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- Costs align with actual usage, not headcount
This reduced reporting costs from an estimated $600 per month ($30 × 20 users) to under $50 per month, while still providing secure access to all staff who need it.
Designed for Clarity, Not Financial Expertise: Because not all users have financial or technical backgrounds, the dashboards were designed to be simple, clear, and focused on understanding performance and direction rather than exposing raw financial complexity.
What Would Have Gone Wrong with a “Standard” BI Approach
A traditional approach would likely have resulted in:
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- A separate BI tool outside existing workflows
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- Per-user licensing costs for infrequent users
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- Separate logins and access management
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- A training-heavy rollout
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- Lower adoption and higher ongoing support burden
The real risk in this project was never the data or the reports. It was low adoption, fragmented access, rising per-user costs, and long-term maintenance complexity.
Outcomes
The result is a system that people actually use:
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- Staff actively use the portal to review performance
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- Teams ask better questions about results and trends
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- Locations have clearer visibility into their performance and direction
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- Leadership benefits from more consistent, reliable performance awareness
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- The solution requires minimal ongoing maintenance
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- Reporting costs are controlled and predictable
Most importantly, performance data is no longer something that exists in spreadsheets. It is part of daily operations.
This project was not about dashboards. It was about designing a system people would actually use.
By focusing on low friction for users, low operational overhead for the business, predictable costs, and alignment with existing workflows, ACT360 delivered a performance reporting platform that supports real decision-making instead of becoming another underused tool.
Conclusion
This project demonstrates ACT360’s approach to business systems: start with how people actually work, not with the technology.
By embedding Power BI into the organization’s existing WordPress intranet, securing access through Microsoft 365 and Azure, and architecting the solution around real usage patterns, ACT360 delivered a system that is practical, cost-effective, secure, and sustainable.
If your organization is sitting on valuable data but struggling with adoption, access, or cost control, the problem is probably not your reports. It is the system around them.
Learn more about our IT Services or Contact Us to discuss how we can help you turn your business systems into tools people actually use.