1. Characteristics of healthcare performance dashboards.
Due to expansion within the healthcare system, there is a need for sustenance of the required data by the use of information technology. The data obtained should be organized and processed efficiently to assist in decision making. The creation of performance dashboards allows for easy identification of problems enhancing the making of important decisions. Healthcare performance dashboards have the following important characteristics;
Ability to purchase an investment in clinical and financial systems
It helps in identifying the available trends and opportunities which help in the advancement of the organization. The dashboard balances between the clinical requirements and the financial stability of the healthcare organization. The dashboard shows the key Performance Indicators like billing systems and level of patient satisfaction (Ransom et al., 2005).
System decision Makers
Healthcare performance dashboards help in suggesting all the necessary elements required for obtaining solutions. It provides new measures and critical insights that enable healthcare organizations to develop IT-oriented business decisions (Industry expertise Healthcare, 2010).
2. Healthcare performance dashboard data dimensions.
There are various healthcare performance dashboard data dimensions, some of which include; Employee and staff satisfaction, the safety, financial performance, clinical efficiency, and the level of equity. All these are used to assist in aligning the organization towards the desired goal.
3. How healthcare performance dashboards help to create alignment in a healthcare organization.
Performance dashboards are drawn based on the organizations’ goals and the available data. It provides indicators that are used to visualize the organization’s progress revealing both quality measures and the financial metrics. The dashboard can be used in monitoring the rate of cash flow within the organization (Nelson, 2010). It helps in linking the operations of the organization to its strategies.
4. Interpretation of the healthcare performance data indicators found in the St. Joseph Hospital case study.
The performance of St. Joseph is a function of several determinants. In the clinical efficiency, the data indicates a high mortality rate in March and an average percentage of patient falls. On the financials, the data indicates an average operating and Net margin; there is also a high debt rate. The amount of cash collected within a day is relatively high while the total operating cost is below the average.
On the area of human resource management, the rate of employee turnover to employee vacancy is almost the same and relatively high. The data also indicates good employee management since the rate of injury and employee illness is low. Concerning the level of satisfaction, the data shows that in-patients are less satisfied with the hospital’s services as compared to out-patients.
5. Discuss at least one inference that can be drawn from the clinical outcomes quality improvement data in the St. Joseph Hospital case study. Quality of service.
This is one of the important aspects that can be used to measure the general outcome of the type of treatment administered at St. Joseph. The overall quality of service drawn from the hospital can be traced from the overall patient attendance and the mortality rate. The rate of attendance is low while the mortality rate is too high; this reveals that the services are generally poor. The number of retirees within the premises is also an indicator of slow and poor services rendered.
6. Discuss at least one inference that can be drawn from the patient satisfaction quality improvement data in the St. Joseph Hospital case study. Quality of life.
The level of satisfaction of in-patient is relatively low as compared to out-patient; this can be attributed to poor services rendered, which might also be the cause for high mortality rate. This shows that there are few who are restored to the desired quality of life that the majority enjoys. The out-patient might seek health services elsewhere afterward and could be the reason for their level of satisfaction as revealed by the data. The hospital’s environment can also be a contributing factor to in-patient’s level of dissatisfaction.
References
Industry expertise Healthcare.(2010). Performance Dashboards For Healthcare. Web.
Nelson, S. (2010). The Healthcare Performance Dashboard: Linking Strategy to Metrics. ThotWave Technologies, Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
Ransom, S., Joshi, M. and Nash, D. (2005). The healthcare quality book: Vision, strategy, and tools. Chicago, IL: Health Administration Press.