The Ohio Department of Mental Health

Office of Information Services

Presents:

Cognos Analysis Studio

Featuring Cognos version 8
 Cognos Analysis Studio

Intro to Cognos Analysis Studio

• Accessing Information 2
• User Interface 2

Working with a Cognos Powerplay Cube

• Performance Indicators 3
• Searching 4
• Setting Filters 5
• Workshop 1 : Create a Report 6

Nesting/Drill Down for Performance Indicators

• Nesting Performance Indicators 7

• Drill Down 8
• Zero Suppression 8
• Exporting Reports 9
• Workshop 2 : Create a Report / Export to Excel 11
 Cognos Analysis Studio

Intro to Cognos Analysis Studio

Accessing Information
Cognos 8 is internet based software
used by the State of Ohio (ODMH and
ODADAS) to access MACSIS Claims
Datamart data. It allows the user to access
data via the internet without installing
software on the users desktop. The screen
to the right is the initial screen. It is an
interface created to allow users to more
easily access the data. Users click on
radio buttons to select what type of data is
of interest to them. When done, the
“Open” button will access the data using
Cognos Analysis Studio.

User Interface
After selecting the data of
interest, Cognos Analysis
Studio will open a Power
Play Cube. A cube is a three-
dimensional view of the data
within the MACSIS Claims
Datamart. The far left
portion of the screen shows
all of the performance
indicators. This area is
known as the Source Tree.

The performance indicators

are different depending on
what cube is being viewed.
All of the indicators have a
small plus sign (+) to the left.
This allows you to view all the sub groups for this category.

The right portion of the screen shows the rows, columns and measures. A measure is the intersection of the
row and column, commonly referred to as a cell.

IMPORTANT: Client Count is distinct or unduplicated. This means the column and rows seem to total
incorrectly. (Ex. If a client receives two procedures (Crisis Intervention and Individual Counseling) in a
year, Cognos recognizes this and does not count the client twice when summarizing the data.)
 Cognos Analysis Studio
Working with a Cognos Powerplay Cube

Performance Indicators
Demographic categories are the heart of the MACSIS Claims Datamart. In Cognos, the demographic
categories are stored as “Performance Indicators”. By using a common Windows technique of dragging and
dropping the performance indicator to the appropriate row or column, users can explore the data stored with
in the Power Play cube.

The picture to the

right demonstrates
the technique used
to change
performance
indicators.

While dragging the

performance
indicator located on
the left of the
screen, the rows
will become heavily
shaded. When this
happens, release the
mouse button and
the indicator will
drop the object into
the report.

Note: Measures
cannot be moved to
the report. You
must click on the
plus sign (+) and
move the items
individually or as a
group.
 Cognos Analysis Studio

Searching
Searching for an individual data item in a list of performance indicator is a multi-step process. This is how to
search within a list of Providers (in this example the Provider Cube). First you right click on the Provider folder
on the left of the screen. This will allow you to select “Search (Provider)... from the popup box.

When the search is initiated a window will appear at the bottom of the screen, like this:

Type in the provider number for the provider you are looking for, click on the “Contains the keyword” button
and the “Search” button. The results will appear in the box to the right. Left click on the provider when it
appears. This will cause the name to be highlighted. It means you selected the provider. Now right click on
the name and left click on the word “Replace”, then “Rows”, like this:

This will replace the list of provider names with the one you want.
 Cognos Analysis Studio

Setting Filters
You can filter the report to focus on the SMD clients. For example, expanding the SMD dimension at the left
and dragging the “Y” category to “Context” block will filter by clients who are classified as SMD.

There can be multiple filters set for the same report. Just drag the additional items and place them to the right
of the last item in the “Context” block.
 Cognos Analysis Studio

Workshop 1: Create a Report

• Open the 2007 ODADAS cube from MACSIS Claims Datamart homepage in Internet
Explorer.

• Move the following performance indicators on to your report.

1. Row - Procedures
2. Column – Gender

• Search the Procedures for “A-Methadone Adm”.

• Filter on SMD = Y.
 Cognos Analysis Studio

Nesting/Drill Down for Performance Indicators

Nesting Performance Indicators

Nesting is done via the drag and drop feature used for changing Performance Indicators. The difference is
in where you “drop” the item. In order to nest, the item needs to be dropped to the right or left of the current
Performance Indicator for nesting in rows and above or below for nesting in columns. Look for a thick, black
line to appear when you are in the correct zone, and drop the item.
 Cognos Analysis Studio

Drill Down

You can drill down to

lower levels to see how a category
is further divided, then drill back
up to any level. While the top
level numbers for the all the boards
are one thing, drilling down to just
“Franklin“ Board shows how what
providers are serving this board
area.

Zero Suppression
Many times you will create
a report in PowerPlay that have a
row of zeros for an item. This
report shows procedures by
Medicaid status, where Medicaid =
MED”. As you can see there are
some procedures that are Non
Medicaid type services. When
drilled down to Medicaid =
“MED”, those procedures have
zeros for the whole row. To clean
up the report you will want to turn
on “Zero Suppression”.

Click on “Settings”, “Suppress”,

“Zeros and Empty Cells”. This
 Cognos Analysis Studio

changes the default which

will only suppress empty
cells and not cells filled
with zeros. Click on a
column in the report.
Click on the “Zero
Suppression” icon at
the top. Any row that is filled
with zeroes will disappear.

Exporting Report to Excel

Exporting reports to Excel requires settings in Internet Explorer that may not be the default for your
organization. Cognos 8 uses the default browser configurations provided by Microsoft, Netscape, and
Firefox. For all browsers, you must ensure that settings are enabled for cookies and Java scripts. Additional
required settings are specific to the browser.

The following table shows the settings that must be enabled in the Microsoft Internet Explorer.

Browser Setting type Setting

Internet Explorer Active Scripting Enable
Allow Cookies Enable
Scripting of JAVA Applets Enable
Allow META Refresh Enable
Run ActiveX controls and plug-ins Enable
Script ActiveX controls marked safe for scripting Enable
Automatic prompting for Downloads Enable
File download Enable
Use Pop Blocker Disable
XSS Filter Disable

These settings are found in Internet Explorer within Tools – Options – Security – Custom Level. Please
check with your Network Administrator before changing any internet browser settings.
After you have a report created in Analysis
Studio, transferring to Excel is just a couple
button clicks away.

Click the smart icon for “Run Report (Excel

2000 Format)”. (see graphic on right)

A pop up window will appear asking if you

want to open or save the file … select “Save”

Give the file a name and click on “Ok”. The report is now saved as an Excel spreadsheet. Note: The report
is saved as is. There are no drill downs, no performance indicators, etc.
 Cognos Analysis Studio

Workshop 2: Create a Report / Export to Excel

• Open the 2008 ODADAS cube from MACSIS Claims Datamart homepage in Internet
Explorer.

• Move the following performance indicators on to your report.

3. Row – Procedure
4. Column – Fund Source

• Drill down into Fund Source and show the Medicaid Status.
• Suppress all zeroes on the report.
• Export the file as an Excel 2000 spreadsheet and save the file name as “2008
ODADAS – Procedures – Fund Source (Med)”

• Open the file in Excel.