Using Quality Improvement Tools
Benchmarking
What: A comparison of outcome indicators to identify disparities in care and/or identify process critical success factors, develop a self-assessment, and provide evidence for supporting decisions
Why: To identify prevailing best performance and obtain a measure for improvement, identify areas of strength and weakness, and contextualize current performance
When: Helpful to identify and prioritize areas of potential improvement
How: There are a number of models. This one by Pitarelli and Monier is highlighted in Benchmarking: A Method for Continuous Quality Improvement in Health:
- Select the object of the benchmarking (the service or activity to be improved).
- Identify benchmarking partners (reference points).
- Collect and organize data internally.
- Identify the competitive gap by comparing against external data.
- Set future performance targets (objectives).
- Communicate the benchmarking results.
- Develop action plans.
- Take concrete action (project management).
- Monitor progress
Types of Benchmarking:
- Generic: Broad focus on fact-finding, examination of general processes, and/or developing data sets and metrics to support change efforts
- Internal: Typically interdepartmental efforts primarily focused on developing standards of care
- Functional: Used to compare an organization with others in an unrelated industry that has similar metric and/or process that could provide insights into how improvement might be achieved
- Competitive: Comparing metrics to peer institutions in the same or different service areas
Understanding the purpose and use of benchmarking provides a more detailed model
Measuring and Benchmarking Clinical Performance - AHRQ
Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS)