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Benchmarking for Health Care
CH Medical Library Pathfinder
Updated January 2012
INTRODUCTION
This pathfinder leads the way to select
databases, electronic resources, books and articles, and other key library
resources relating to benchmarking in health care. If you know of other
quality benchmarking resources, which should be included, please let the Medical Library
know. (Medical.LibraryMC@conehealth.com)
An
Introduction to Benchmarking
The purpose of this document is to provide a
general introduction to benchmarking. It reviews what benchmarking is, why we
need to benchmark, the types of benchmarking that can he used, and illustrates
the major steps involved in a benchmarking project.
Successful
Database Benchmarking: What Do We Need?
Richard B. Backiel II, BS Journal of Healthcare Information
Management, Vol. 15, no. 2, Summer 2001
This article educates and informs healthcare facilities about the factors that
should be considered when comparing their own data with those of other hospitals
in an on-line benchmarking database warehouse.
Benchmarking for better outcomes. Demeo M. AORN J. Vol. 94, no. 4, Oct 2011. pp400-2. PubMed PMID: 21967914.
This article outlines key tasks to prepare for meaningful comparisons by emphasizing advanced planning. It addresses assessing the business, determining the scope of the assessment, establishing tools for capturing data, gathering past performance data and submitting data in a timely fashion.
Please contact the Cone Health Library for assistance in obtaining full text of this article.
DATA SETS
Ambulatory Health Care Data
CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics Ambulatory Health Care Data site
offers information on the NAMCS (National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey) and
the NHAMCS (National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey). Data
highlights include data on utilization and provision of ambulatory care services
in hospital emergency and outpatient departments. Also available are
public-use data files.
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality,
Rockville, MD (301) 427-1364
The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality's (AHRQ) mission is to improve
the quality, safety, efficiency, and effectiveness of health care for all
Americans. Information on this site includes Clinical Information, Funding
Opportunities, Research Findings, Quality & Patient Safety, specific population
groups, and Data and Surveys.
Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project,
HCUPNet
HCUPNet, a service of the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project, is an on-line
query system that gives “access to health statistics and information on hospital
inpatient and emergency department utilization.” HCUPnet's step-by-step
query system allows you to generate tables and graphs on national and regional
statistics and trends for community hospitals in the U.S.
AHRQ National Quality Measures
Clearinghouse
Tha National Quality Measures Clearinghouse provides
information on specific evidence-based health care quality measures and measure
sets. It contains a glossary of terms used in the standardized abstracts and
sections on “Using Measures” and “Selecting Measures.”
AHRQ Quality Indicators
The AHRQ Quality Indicators series, which includes the Inpatient Quality
Indicators, Prevention Quality Indicators Patient Safety Indicators and
Pediatric Quality Indicators, are measures of health care quality that make use
of readily available hospital inpatient administrative data.
2010 National Healthcare
Quality Report (NHQR)
This is a comprehensive national overview of the quality of healthcare in the
United States and is a companion report to the
National
Healthcare Disparities Report. The NHQR
is built on 220 measures assembled across four dimensions of quality -
effectiveness, patient safety, timeliness, and patient centeredness. The 2010 National
Healthcare Reports Highlights seeks to address three questions critical to
guiding Americans toward the optimal health care they need and deserve:
1)
What is the status of health care quality and disparities in the United States?
2)
How have health care quality and disparities changed over time?
3)
Where is the need to improve health care quality and reduce disparities
greatest?
The Centers for
Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) administers the Medicare
program, and works in partnership with the States to administer Medicare,
Medicaid, the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), and HIPAA
(Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act),
CLIA
(Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments), and several other health-related
programs. The section for Research.
Statistics, Data, and Systems
provides a number of data sets.
The Leapfrog Group
The Leapfrog Group is a consortium of major companies and public and private
organizations that provide health care benefits for their employees. The
mission of The Leapfrog Group is to encourage advancements (“giant leaps
forward”) in safety, quality and affordability of health care by “supporting
informed healthcare decisions by those who use and pay for health care and
promoting high-value health care through incentives and rewards.” Brief
comparative data, geared for the consumer, from the Leapfrog Hospital Quality
and Safety Survey is available at:
http://www.leapfroggroup.org/cp.
All hospitals are welcome to participate in the Survey.
National Center for Health Statistics,
Hyattsville, MD (301) 458-4636
The National Center for Health Statistics of the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention is the nation’s principal health statistics agency, compiling
statistical information to guide actions and policies to improve the health of
the American public.
The National Health Care Surveys
(NHCS)
are a family of provider-based surveys designed to meet the need for objective,
reliable information about the organizations and providers that supply health
care, the services rendered, and the patients they serve. These NHSC Surveys
include:
North Carolina Center for Health Statistics
SCHS is responsible for data collection, health-related research, production of
reports, and maintenance of a comprehensive collection of health statistics to
provide high quality health information for better informed decisions and
effective health policies. The State Center is responsible for collecting,
analyzing, and disseminating timely, comprehensive, and accurate health
statistics. It is a central collection site for information about, among
other subjects, cancer, birth defects, births, deaths, marriages, and divorces.
ORGANIZATIONS
Many professional organizations have benchmarking information and data pertinent
to their own discipline. Be sure to check the web site of your own
professional organization.
The
Advisory Board Company
The Advisory Board provides, for its members, services which include research,
executive education and leadership development, decision-support tools, and
consulting. The Advisory Board Company serves more than 2,800 health care
organizations. Advisory Board Membership programs include Strategy and
Operations Research, Clinical Research, Advisory Board Academies’ Leadership
Development, Business Intelligence and Analytics (Compass Programs), OptiLink
Workforce Performance, Health Care Industry & International Offerings, and
H*Works Consulting.
American
Productivity and Quality Center
This membership organization, APQC, works with its member organizations “to help
them adapt to rapidly changing environments, build new and better ways of
working, and succeed in a competitive marketplace.” Research and services
include, among others, custom benchmarking, best practices research and the
Knowledge Base research Library. This Knowledge Base provides access
to thousands of articles, case studies, presentations, and more. Limited
free access to the APQC Knowledge Base and some for-a-fee content is available
for non-member.
ASQ: American
Society for Quality, Central North Carolina Section
1109. “The mission of the
Central North Carolina Section of ASQ is to promote the use of the principles
and tools of Total Quality in Central North Carolina businesses and public
institutions, and to be a comprehensive source of quality-related information to
our membership and community.” Under the section,
Quality Topics, Six Sigma, several articles are
listed; access to a few may be available without membership, although
registration may be necessary.
Association for Benchmarking Health Care
A service of The Benchmarking Network, the ABHC was created to share
benchmarking information. The purpose is “to identify "Best in Class" business
processes, which, when implemented, will lead member companies to exceptional
performance as perceived by their customers.” Membership is free.
Accreditation Association for
Ambulatory Health Care
The Accreditation Association, a private, non-profit organization, currently
accredits over 4,000 organizations in a wide variety of ambulatory health care
settings, including ambulatory and office based surgery centers, managed care
organizations, as well as Indian and student health centers, among others.
It develops standards to advance and promote patient safety, quality and value
for ambulatory health care through peer-based accreditation processes, education
and research. Accreditation is awarded to organizations that are found to be in
compliance with the Accreditation Association standards.
The Joint
Commission – Quality Check
Quality Check is a comprehensive guide to health care organizations and programs
(Joint Commission accredited or non-accredited) throughout the US. Quality
Check provides information about the comparative performance of these
organizations, including hospital performance measure results, free through
access to Quality Reports. Quality Reports contain relevant and useful
information about the quality and safety of Joint Commission-accredited
organizations.
Hospital Compare
This US Department of Health and Human Services tool provides information on how
well the hospitals in a defined geographical area care for patients with certain
medical
conditions (including heart attack, heart failure, pneumonia, chronic lung
disease, diabetes in adults) or surgical procedures. Hospital Compare has
quality measures on how often hospitals provide some of the recommended care to
get the best results for most patients. Hospital Compare was created through the
efforts of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and
organizations that represent hospitals, doctors, employers, accrediting
organizations, other Federal agencies, and the public. Under the tab, Data
Details, there is information on the data and how it is collected, for the
professional as well as for the consumer.
Institute for Healthcare Improvement
The Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), a not-for-profit organization,
is designed for health care providers and organizations that are seeking to
improve the care they give. IHI provides a range of resources and
teaching tools to help health care professionals lead and manage effective
improvement efforts at their organizations.
The IHI Topics (Critical Care, End Stage Renal Disease, HIV/AIDS,
Medical-Surgical Care, Patient-Centered Care, Patient Safety, etc) are the core
around which content is organized. Each Topic features the best available
knowledge for improvement in that area, including tools, literature, and changes
that can be implemented and measured to help speed improvement in the
organization.
DATABASES
Most of these databases provide access to the literature of the field.
The Cochrane
Library
The Cochrane Library is a unique source of reliable and up-to-date information
on the effects of interventions in health care. The Cochrane Library consists of
a regularly updated collection of evidence-based medicine databases:
-
The Cochrane Database of Systematic
Reviews
A systematic review identifies an intervention
for a specific disease or other problem in health care, and determines
whether or not this intervention works
-
Database of Abstracts of Reviews of
Effectiveness DARE contains abstracts of
systematic reviews that have been quality-assessed. Each abstract includes a
summary of the review together with a critical commentary about the overall
quality.
-
The Cochrane Central Register of
Controlled Trials The CCRCT includes
details of published articles taken from databases and other published and
unpublished sources. CCRCT records do not contain the full text of the
article.
-
The Cochrane Methodology
Register. The Cochrane
Methodology Register is a bibliography of publications which report on
methods used in the conduct of controlled trials. CMR records contain the
title of the article, information on where it was published (bibliographic
details) and, in some cases, a summary of the article. They do not contain
the full text of the article.
-
Health Technology
Assessment Database. The HTA database
brings together details of completed and ongoing health technology
assessments (studies of the medical, social, ethical and economic
implications of healthcare interventions) from around the world. The
aim of the database is to improve the quality and cost-effectiveness of
health care.
-
NHS Economic Evaluation
Database. Information about both costs
and effects are essential to making evidence-based decisions about competing
healthcare interventions.
Access to the Systematic Reviews, DARE,
and the CCRCT are available, without a password, through the MCHS Medical Library
website, Medline (Ovid) when on a MCHS campus.
CINAHL –
CINAHL is available from on campus through the
MCHSL Medical Library
homepage and choose “CINAHL (Nursing)”. (No password is needed when on
campus.) The Cumulative Index to Nursing & Allied Health (CINAHL) database
provides coverage of the literature related to nursing and allied health.
Some citations link directly to the full text of the article.
MEDLINE
– Medline is available through Ovid from on campus or through NLM’s PubMed.
Access both through the MCHSL Medical Library
homepage. MEDLINE is the U.S. National Library of Medicine's database
covering the fields of medicine, nursing, dentistry, the health care system, and
health services administration. The full text of some articles is
available.
HEALTH BUSINESS JOURNAL COLLECTION,
Available through the
AHEC Digital Library,
Database of 130 full-text business, health care, and health business journals.
Access to this resource is available for MCHS employees or for NC health care
practitioners through a paid membership in the AHEC Digital Library.
Please contact the Moses Cone Health System Library for further information.
-
NCLive
is a collection of databases and full-text journals
and newspapers. No password is needed if accessed from the MCHS
Libraries or any NC public library. Access is freely available to NC
citizens with a public library card. Check with the MCHS Library or
your public library for instructions how to get this access. Databases
include:
-
Business Source Premier
- Full text coverage in all disciplines of business, including
marketing, management, MIS, POM, accounting, finance and economics.
Additional full text, non-journal content includes market research reports,
industry reports, country reports, company profiles and SWOT analyses.
-
Health Source:
Nursing/Academic Edition
- Provides access to more than 400 full text journals focusing on many
medical disciplines
-
Regional Business News
- Abstracts for 67 regional business publications, and includes some full
text for 52 of those titles.
-
NC State Center for Health Statistics
- SCHS is responsible for data collection and research, production of
reports, and maintenance of a comprehensive collection of health statistics.
They publish a wide variety of reports.
-
AccessNC
– AccessNC provides community demographic reports, labor market and
education data.
US Government Statistical Resources:
to locate the agency or dataset you need, try:
-
USA.gov is the
official gateway to all US government information. The
link to
Data and Statistics is
found on the
Reference and General Government
page.
-
SearchGov
This site allows you to search Federal or State governmental agencies.
-
FedStats is the gateway to statistics from
over 100 federal agencies.
NEWSLETTERS
Ebenchmarking
EBenchmarking, a service of The Benchmarking Network, is an newsletter
provided via e-mail and available free to individuals employed by corporations
or governmental entities who are involved with benchmarking. “It is
intended to provide information about benchmarking to the business community,
including information about new benchmarking studies.”
Healthcare Benchmarks and Quality
Improvement. Monthly newsletter.
American Health Consultants. The print copy is available in the MCHS Medical
Library, Cone campus, and through the CINAHL Plus database. Emailed
Table of Contents of each issue is available; contact the Medical Library for
this service.
Modern Healthcare
The journal Modern Healthcare
is a source of healthcare business news that provides hospital executives with
up-to-date and comprehensive healthcare news. Modern Healthcare also
publishes a daily e-mail newsletter, Modern
Healthcare’s Daily Dose. For alerts to news as it
happens,
Modern Healthcare Alerts
emails or RSS news feeds are available.
PUBLICATIONS / REPORTS FOR PURCHASE
American Medical Association, Chicago (312)
464-5000
The Physicians Consortium for Performance Improvement
The mission of the AMA Physicians Consortium for Performance Measurement
includes improving the quality of care and patient safety by developing and
testing evidence-based clinical performance measures and measurement resources
for physicians.
Fasttrakk Benchmarking Studies. The Benchmarking Network
A service of the Benchmarking Network, Fasttrakk
studies are “focused on real measures from selected companies to fulfill
short-term requirements.” Their purpose is to identify "Best in Class" business
processes, which, when implemented, will lead member companies to exceptional
performance
100 Top Hospital Studies.
Center for Healthcare Inprovement, Thomas Reuters.
The 100 Top Hospitals Performance Programs objectively identifies the highest
performers in the nation. Available studies include the 100 Top Hospitals:
National Benchmarks, 100 Top Hospitals: Cardiovascular Benchmarks, and 100 Top
Hospitals: Health System Quality/Efficiency Benchmarks.
HealthGrades: Guiding America to better healthcare.
Health Grades, Inc. is a healthcare ratings company. HealthGrades provides
ratings and profiles of hospitals, nursing homes and physicians to consumers,
corporations, health plans and hospitals. Consumers can find free hospital
information on this site, including how they are rated.
SIX Sigma
Making Customers Feel Six
Sigma Quality
A brief overview of the Six Sigma process, from GE.
This site also includes brief descriptions of the Key Elements of Quality, the
Six Sigma Strategy, and a Six Sigma Glossary of Terms and
Definitions.
National
Association for Healthcare Quality
JHQ 174--Lean Six Sigma in Healthcare,
by Henk de Koning, John P. S. Verver, Jaap van den Heuvel, Soren Bisgaard,
Ronald J. M. M. Does. March/April 2006. “This article outlines a
methodology and presents examples
to illustrate how principles of Lean Thinking and Six Sigma can be combined to
provide an effective framework for producing systematic innovation efforts in
healthcare.”
The Joint Commission
Center for Transforming Healthcare.
http://www.centerfortransforminghealthcare.org/
The Center works to solve health care’s critical safety and quality problems.
It “uses Lean Six Sigma and change management tools and methods to identify the
most pressing safety problems, measure their impact, discover their causes,
develop specific solutions that are targeted to each important cause, and
thoroughly test the solutions in real-life situations.”
There is a link under
About Us to information on
Lean Six Sigma.
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
Health Care Innovations Exchange.
The AHRQ Health Care Innovations Exchange promotes sharing and adopting
innovative tools to improve health care. The site offers a “central
repository of searchable innovations and Quality Tools that enable health care
decision makers to quickly identify ideas and tools that meet their needs, a
standardized description of innovations and Quality Tools, and opportunities for
learning and networking with like-minded adopters of innovations.” The
following link takes you to Six Sigma Innovations Profiles and Quality Tools:
http://www.innovations.ahrq.gov/searchSummary.aspx?term=six+sigma
Patient Safety Network
The AHRQ focuses on patient safety through its Patient Safety Network. A
search for Six Sigma on this site results in a “list of citations for articles,
presentations, and commentaries that have been noted as related to Six Sigma.”
6 Sigma Health Care Benchmarking Association
The 6 Sigma Health Care Benchmarking Association (6SHCBA™), a service of the
Benchmarking Network, is an association of 6 Sigma professionals within major
health care companies and provides members with an opportunity to identify,
document and establish best practices through benchmarking to increase value,
efficiencies, and profits.
iSixSigma.
isixSigma provides free information resources designed to help business
professionals successfully implement quality within their organizations. There
are several free newsletters offered (including one for healthcare), Six Sigma Q
& A, a dictionary, discussion forums, a SixSigma calculator, news items (with a
RSS feed), links to Six Sigma events, and “channels” for various topics,
including Healthcare and Financial Services. (A PDF version of iSixSigma
information is
here.)
VHA
VHA has a program, Healthcare Lean Sigma 2+2, “specifically designed for members
of the VHA in partnership with Sigma Breakthrough Technologies, Inc. to provide
Green Belt and Black Belt training in Lean and Six Sigma methodologies” within
the organization.
The
Institute for Healthcare Improvement
(IHI) is a nonprofit organization that strives to
improve healthcare. Many organizations using Six Sigma have reported projects
to IHI. A search in this site on “six sigma” retrieves links to a number of
articles and other information on Six Sigma.
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