Technical Writing

Technical Writing
Care Management Performance
Reporting

“Writing is easy. All you have to
do is cross out the wrong words.”
- Mark Twain

Introduction
Technical Writing 0
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Comparison of Writing Types
Technical Writing Literary Writing
Used in technology fields such as
computers, electronics, hardware,
software and engineering.
Generally highly informative and
instructional based theme.
Used to provide a person with enough
detail to complete a complex task
without immediate intervention by the
writer.
Intended audience is typically
scientists, highly educated or business
professional.
Used to convey thoughts, concepts,
values and emotions through
conversation form of writing.
Generally literal or casual theme
attempting to tell a story not instruct a
person to complete a task.
Poor channel for instructing specific
tasks/labors because language tends
to be emotional based instead of
factual based transactions.
Intended audience is the general
populous that desires to read for

1.
2.
3.
Technical Writing
Technical writing follows a similar
process to the SDLC or other project
based timeline.
1. Identification of needs
2. Planning
3. Research and/content
development
4. Testing, Reviewing and Revising
5. Delivery & Production
6. Evaluation and feedback
7. Disposition (revision, archiving,
destruction0
The Process
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Te c h n i c a l Wr i t i n g | E H C M – C a r e M a n a g e m e n t
O p e r a t i o n a l R e p o r t i n g
6

Types of Technical Writing
* Contracts
* Customer Service scripts
* Demonstrations
* Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
* How-to-Videos
* Instructions
* Knowledge based articles
* User manuals
* Warning labels
* Web-based training
* White papers
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* Online and printed help
* Policy documentation
* Process flows
* Project documents
* Product catalog
* Product packaging
* Proposals
* Release notes
* Reference guides
* Requirements specifications
* Simulations
* Training course material

Definition
Technical writing is a process of managing technical information in a way that allows
people to take action.
Literary writing is creating innovation, creative work, such as poems or novels and
compilations of creative work.
Technical Writing Example: Filter “Plan Code ID” = 123456 and filter “PlanYear” =
2015 and extract MemberName, MemberDOB, MemberID.
Literary Writing Example: The developer was able to gather the member’s name,
date of birth and identification number from the query he developed.
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Purpose
Technical writing is a language variant that is direct, factual and straightforward.
Literary writing is a language that is creative, imaginative and uses literary techniques such as
hyperbole, personification, smiles and metaphors.
Technical Writing Example: The business requirements document is due from the BTC to the
BO NLT 1500.
Literary Writing Example: The business consultant worked tireless on the business
requirements all through the night until it was complete, the next morning his scraggly face
looked rough as cut stone with hard stress wrinkles.
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Appeal
Technical writing appeals to the mind.
Literary writing appeals to the emotions.
Technical Writing Example: The Hubble telescope will align in order to view the Mercury
eclipse in t minus 4.
Literary Writing Example: In the fall of 2015, the Mercury eclipse was scheduled to occur
causing great tension between the religious leaders of the rival tribe because it signified the
end of days for all humankind.
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Structure
Technical writing has a technical vocabulary, simple sentence structure, impersonal dialogue
and objective tone.
Literary writing has a complex sentence structure and linguistic aspects like dialect, ambiguity
and emotion.
Technical Writing Example: The BRD is due to Janice NLT 0700 tomorrow IOT be accepted
for sprint 3’s development cycle.
Literary Writing Example: Janice needs the business requirements first thing in the morning
to ensure they are hand delivered to the development team prior to their doors closing on new
project requests.
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Reference Terms
Technical Writing 02

Terms
Document Purpose: Standard language but is used to describe why they requirements are
being written and what they will support. Tell the reader what they are reading.
Example: The purpose of this document is to describe in detail the business requirements
for a report that will support the utilization management team in determining high cost claimants
most frequently utilized facilities.
Intended Audience: Standard language but is used to define how the requirements were
written. In instances of highly technical documentation there may be a business owner version
and a developer version and this is where that definition would derive.
Annotations, Markings, Color Scheme: Standard language for HCSC purposes
Problem Statement: The business owner will provide a problem description that will then be
crafted into a problem statement which is more quantifiable or quantitative.
Current State: Written by the business analyst, it is a quick quantitative and qualitative review
of where the business is without the requested report. The goal is to reflect upon the problem
statement validating the need.
Future State: Written by the business analyst as a prediction for what the business
environment will look like post development of the report.1 A u g u s t 2 0 1 6
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Terms
System Dependencies: Completed by the Business Analyst, this is where it is documented
the contingencies of the report development.
Example: This report is dependent upon the implementation of new custom fields in Aerial
in order to collect information and develop a new dataset for the ODAG Report.
Assumptions: Completed by the Business Analyst, this is where anything outside of the
business analyst’s control that could have a potential impact on the report is documented.
Example: This report assumes that the clinical team will develop and implement standard
operating procedures for the new business process to ensure accurate reporting of the out
reach attempts being measured.
References: Completed by the Business Analyst, this is where the “sources of truth” are
recorded for the purpose of developing the report. Any documentation received by an outside
source or business owner should be noted in this section so that future analyst can trace the
development work.
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Terms
Formatting: descriptive information that provides the developers with a guide on how the
report should look like once the date set has been created.
Field Examples: Report name, delivery location, tab names, subtitle information, column
headers
Parameters: the limiting values for the dataset representing in the report.
Field Examples: delivery frequency, time period, business area, user area, population,
query filters
Business Rules: definitions of the report and or data set included that need to be documented
because they are either client/end user specific or they are uncommon situations that do not
occur else where in the standard reporting universe.
Functional Requirements: the data fields needed to create the data set for the report listed as
column headers for easy reference and readability.
Requirement Status Type: There are three types of requirements ->: Baseline, Change,
Modification
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Practical Exercise
Technical Writing 03

Technical Writing

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