Rapid Response: Getting You the Data Analysis You Need, Faster

In today’s continually evolving environment, nimble, real-time analysis of data is essential for informing solutions that address complex issues. With increasingly refined technology and an extensive knowledge base, RTI International aims to deliver, ensuring that federal agencies, researchers, policymakers, and more have the answers they need before they even know they need them. 

Depending on data and the complexity of the request, rapid response times can range from minutes or hours to a few days. Rapid response ensures that we turn requests around in a way that exceeds expectations—not only responding to requests more quickly than expected, but also offering better solutions and suggestions for improvement than anticipated and providing accurate, fit-for-purpose products that build trust and confidence. As we move through the 21st century and beyond, rapid response will continue to be the name of the game. 

Identifying solutions that meet the needs of the project is an essential first step for the quick turnaround of deliverables. The solutions might at first seem straightforward, but they can sometimes be more nuanced. Then, staff with the skills, expertise, and time must be identified to implement the solutions and ensure that the project is researched and conducted accurately and efficiently. Collaboration with long-standing partners and clients also enables RTI to respond more rapidly.

One of many examples is our decades-long relationship with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), particularly in the analysis of the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) data. For more than 30 years, we have demonstrated our expertise, innovation, and responsiveness to go well beyond what had been done before in gathering and analyzing data on the NSDUH project. 

This familiarity and skill set contributed to the success of the SAMHSA-funded Analytic Services Center/National Analytic Center project for more than 15 years, when we received a plethora of non-standard analyses and requests. We have turned around requests that came in on Christmas Eve (which we delivered the same day) and requests for estimates within 1 hour for an internal client meeting. Typical response times for these types of requests was 1 to 3 days, on average.

This experience also helped to bolster our help desk assistance efforts for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Data Archive project. With this knowledge, we were able to enhance our frequently-asked-questions (FAQ) documentation to help increase the efficiency and accuracy of public user analyses and provide guidance quickly for more atypical requests. In a few instances, we worked directly with users—a great way to develop potential future partnerships.

Our team of experts learns new lessons and best practices with every project, transferring knowledge that enables faster turnaround of data analysis requests with each new project.

Lesson 1

Broader and more precise communication is paramount. The more people who are familiar with processes and data, the more available options for responding quickly to data analysis requests.

Lesson 2

Using dedicated assessment procedures for identifying the appropriate staff is essential. This includes ensuring that the right subject matter experts, statisticians, and methodologists are on board with a project and ready to work together to ensure quick responses to requests. It also includes clarifying requests. We must be ready to ask the right questions and offer options to understand exactly what is needed.

Lesson 3

Standardized processes and methods are key to efficiency. These processes include the following:  

• Replicable and repeatable analytic processes, including finding the right model for continual staff engagement: This may be a small group with a high level of involvement, a larger group with less involvement, or somewhere in between—whatever works to keep staff engaged with the data, the client, and their areas of interest.
• One size never fits all (or not forever): We must continually plan for flexibility and adaptability. Having these processes fully documented also enables us to assess other possible options and to provide empirical evidence on the appropriateness or applicability of some techniques or methods over others.

From these types of lessons learned, RTI staff have been able to establish protocols and procedures that apply to rapid response for all our clients seeking data analysis. We have maximized lessons learned from legacy projects to lay the groundwork for turning requests around in a matter of minutes or hours, rather than days or weeks. No matter when our clients need it, we have refined our processes to deliver high quality data analysis as quickly as possible. 

Learn more about RTI’s data analysis capabilities here.