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Measuring
Performance
If Pursuing Perfection initiatives to improve healthcare are to be emulated by providers across the country through
shared results,
then distinct
performance measures
must be clearly delineated for each
targeted area of care.
Concerted efforts by Hackensack University Medical Center to measure and track the methods that lead to improved care processes are essential to achieving, monitoring, and sustaining the
goals of the grant program.
Each
targeted area of care
has its unique set of performance measures, which are extracts of the best recommendations from evidence-based practice guidelines that have been endorsed by national specialty societies, the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), formerly known as the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA), and the New Jersey Peer Review Organization (PRO). Performance measures are specifically used to assess and monitor compliance with the recommendations.
“Evidence based” practice guidelines means the recommended treatment plans are based on undisputed medical research that demonstrates optimal patient outcomes. Since practice guidelines are lengthy documents — sometimes 20 pages or more — many hospitals or healthcare organizations develop user-friendly adaptations, called performance measures, that condense the content into half page, easily comprehensible summaries.
At Hackensack University Medical Center performance measures are based on a group-determined set of evidence-based practice guidelines and developed through physician consensus conferences. The adopted performance measures then become the compass for the healthcare provider teams in the new patient care models. Compliance with the adopted performance measures form a framework for the evaluation of improved care processes and serve as indicators for monitoring the achievement of the Pursuing Perfection goals.
Monitoring Compliance
with Performance Measures
Hackensack University Medical Center monitors compliance with performance measures for each
targeted area of care
in several ways:
Financial analysis is crucial to the future of healthcare because it justifies the investment of healthcare dollars in initiatives that improve the quality of care. In addition to monitoring the operational methods needed for outstanding care, a system for financial performance measurements for each targeted area must be developed and include an analysis of the cost effectiveness of the changes. The implementation of a detailed costing system enables grant administrators to formulate specific financial, utilization, and quality goals for each of the initiatives set forth in the Pursuing Perfection grant.
The most immediate and specific effect of these efforts at Hackensack University Medical Center will be the ability to project and track specific utilization rates that directly impact the cost of services and bed availability. This ability establishes a positive price and volume effect that can be used as a variable in managed care contract discussions. Increased quality and severity adjustments command preferential rates and/or market share. A medical center’s managed care contract care terms indirectly affect patient care in that a financially stable healthcare organization can better afford the implementation of strategies, methods, and amenities needed to provide outstanding care.
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Development of Performance Measures
Monitoring Compliance with Performance Measures
Analyzing the Financial Impact of Improved Care
“Evidence based” practice guidelines means the recommended treatment plans are based on undisputed medical research that demonstrates optimal patient outcomes. Since practice guidelines are lengthy documents — sometimes 20 pages or more — many hospitals or healthcare organizations develop user-friendly adaptations, called performance measures, that condense the content into half page, easily comprehensible summaries.
At Hackensack University Medical Center performance measures are based on a group-determined set of evidence-based practice guidelines and developed through physician consensus conferences. The adopted performance measures then become the compass for the healthcare provider teams in the new patient care models. Compliance with the adopted performance measures form a framework for the evaluation of improved care processes and serve as indicators for monitoring the achievement of the Pursuing Perfection goals.
For detailed information about the performance measures for each care process, click Targeted Areas of Care. Since performance measures are unique to each care process, they are summarized on the pages dedicated to that selection.Back to Top
Monitoring Compliance
with Performance Measures
based on the
patient care model
selected (Advanced Practice Nurse (APN) Model, Senior Staff Nurse (SSN) Model or Multidisciplinary Rounds (MDR) Model), a dedicated staff member oversees the implementation of the
predetermined guidelines
so that the desired performance measures are achieved.
front-line staff nurses are trained to maintain performance measures.
the
Senior Leaders
of the Pursuing Perfection grant team are committed to maintaining the vision of the
Pursuing Perfection goals.
The most immediate and specific effect of these efforts at Hackensack University Medical Center will be the ability to project and track specific utilization rates that directly impact the cost of services and bed availability. This ability establishes a positive price and volume effect that can be used as a variable in managed care contract discussions. Increased quality and severity adjustments command preferential rates and/or market share. A medical center’s managed care contract care terms indirectly affect patient care in that a financially stable healthcare organization can better afford the implementation of strategies, methods, and amenities needed to provide outstanding care.
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