A Framework For Evaluating Dashboards in Healthcare Essay
Executive Summary
For this report, an evaluation is provided on the performance of a healthcare organization concerning prescribed benchmarks set by the government laws and policies at locate, state, and federal levels. In this summary, identify areas where the organization does not meet the benchmarks, evaluate the effects for limited performance, and propose ethical and sustainable actions to address the problems. The aim is to improve the quality of care and performance as reflected in the given performance dashboard. A Framework For Evaluating Dashboards in Healthcare Essay
Dashboard Metrics Evaluation
The report provides a comprehensive analysis of Saint Anthony Hospital in Chicago. Accordingly, Saint Anthony Hospital has been one of the top health organizations providing health services to families on the West and Southwest sides of Chicago, irrespective of their ability to pay, for over 125 years. The hospital is well-equipped to provide healthcare to the community members. The organization primarily offers medical and surgical care to different populations, emphasizing low and middle-income people. This report aims to understand and address the benchmark underperformance in light of the healthcare regulations implemented in Saint Anthony Hospital in Chicago.
Brief Description of Organization Setting
Saint Anthony Hospital is located in Chicago and is a prominent health institution providing medical services to the community. The organization is medium-sized and serves diverse people of Chicago (The new SAH – Saint Anthony Hospital – Chicago, n.d.). The hospital has specialized units, including an emergency department, an expanded surgical suite, and a diagnostic imaging and laboratory service department. A Framework For Evaluating Dashboards in Healthcare Essay The facility is equipped to offer comprehensive medical and surgical care. It caters to diverse health needs, including medical care, surgical procedures, pediatrics, orthopedics, and obstetrics, to mention a few. The community served is characterized by diversity. The patients are from different cultural and ethnic backgrounds, including Hispanic, African-American, Caucasian, and Asian. The diversity enriches the health setting and reinforces commitment to providing culturally competent care. The facility primarily focuses on serving people and families from low to middle-income backgrounds. The challenges and health needs of the population form a critical part of the organization’s mission to ensure high-quality health services are provided to community members.
Evaluation of Dashboard Metrics
At Saint Anthony Hospital in Chicago, a comprehensive evaluation was made on the performance dashboard, encompassing various aspects of patient care. The review has identified several metrics not meeting the prescribed benchmarks established by the local, state, and federal healthcare policies and laws (Karami et al., 2017). The metrics include readmission rates, infection control, patient satisfaction, and timely access to care. For the rates of readmission rates, the hospital is experiencing an increase in patient readmissions, especially within 30 days of discharge. The metric directly impacts patient outcomes and costs of healthcare. The readmission rates affect commitment to delivering quality care and could have financial implications for the organization. A Framework For Evaluating Dashboards in Healthcare Essay
Based on the guidelines set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and state health departments, infection control is not consistently met in all hospital areas. Adherence to hand hygiene protocols, sterilization processes, and containment of health-associated infections require improvement. Despite the efforts, patient satisfaction scores have consistently declined as measured by the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) survey. Mainly, this shows gaps in delivering patient-centered care and meeting the expectations of the diverse patient population. The commitment to providing timely patient access is hindered by extended wait times in the emergency department and prolonged appointment scheduling. Mainly, this impacts patient experiences and raises concerns about the efficacy and effectiveness of health delivery.
The policies and laws relevant to the benchmarks include the Affordable Care Act (ACA) that emphasizes the reduction of hospital readmissions and the need for high-quality services over quantity in healthcare delivery (Kuznetsova et al., 2021). The Joint Commission’s guidelines on infection control and prevention are critical to maintaining health standards. The benchmarks on patient satisfaction are linked to patient rights, while timely access to care is aligned with regulations set by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). The benchmarks are met in some instances, but a significant portion of the performance data falls short. The discrepancy calls for examining the existing health policies and a commitment to aligning the services with the standards set by laws and policies. There is a need to address the shortfalls to remain compliant with the regulations and ensure that the patient’s well-being and long-term sustainability are enabled at Saint Anthony Hospital. A Framework For Evaluating Dashboards in Healthcare Essay
Consequences of Benchmark Underperformance
The consequences of not meeting the prescribed benchmarks are far-reaching. They affect an organization’s mission resource constraints, compromise the commitment to cultural diversity, and undermine the skills of the staff members. The lack of adequate procedures and processes leads to benchmark underperformance. The assumptions for these conclusions stem from analyzing historical performance data and observations within the organizations. Like other health organizations, Saint Anthony Hospital has a mission of providing high-quality and patient-centered care to the community. The underperformance threatens to compromise the mission. When the organization falls short of the metrics through readmission rates and patient satisfaction, the challenge is posed to the commitment to providing the best possible care to patients. Such a lack of alignment with the mission impacts the organization’s reputation and eradicates trust. A Framework For Evaluating Dashboards in Healthcare Essay
Additionally, the underperformance of the benchmark leads to resource constraints in different ways and increased readmissions, including inpatient beds, staff time, and financial resources. The financial implications are substantial, with penalties associated with excessive readmissions lowering capital funding and operations. The constraints limit the ability to invest in technologies, staff developments, and critical improvements. Saint Anthony Hospital delights in serving a multicultural community in Chicago. Commitment to cultural diversity is a core value that ensures equitable healthcare access. Benchmark underperformance in the satisfaction of the patient could signal the existence of a disconnect between the care provided and the unique needs and expectations of people from different cultural and ethnic groups, hence compromising the commitment to cultural diversity, leading to disparities in health access and outcomes.
Benchmark Underperformance for Improvement
The underperformance of the benchmark with the most substantial impact is the high rate of readmissions. Mainly, this issue affects the mission and the most significant number of patients. Not addressing the problem affects the quality of care. At the same time, this also jeopardizes the health of the community. The opportunity for improvement is centered on redesigning patient discharge processes and providing targeted interventions for patients who are at risk (Zhuang et al., 2022). Mainly, the changes could play an integral role in improving the quality of care and, ultimately, patient satisfaction through bettered outcomes. A Framework For Evaluating Dashboards in Healthcare Essay
Advocacy for Ethical and Sustainable Actions
Addressing the high readmission rate at Saint Anthony Hospital would require a well-coordinated effort led by a committee for quality improvement in conjunction with the medical and nursing staff. The stakeholders are positioned to initiate targeted interventions to improve the identified benchmark metric (Rabiei & Almasi, 2022). The reasons for the approach tend to be diverse. One of the propositions is expertise and insight. The committee can bring together professionals who deeply understand health quality and performance improvement. Their expertise allows for analyzing the root causes of high readmission rates, allowing for evidence-based interventions. Besides, collaboration with the medical and nursing staff is integral. Health providers have direct contact with patients and know the need to address the issue of high readmission rates.
Additionally, readmissions must be reduced to ensure they align perfectly with the mission to provide a high standard of care to the community. The commitment to the task is not just a statement but a promise to the patients and reflects the dedication to the health and well-being of the people served. A series of actions can be undertaken in the facility to improve the services rendered. They include having a post-discharge follow-up, implementing care transition programs, collaborating with community partners, and making data-driven decisions. These solutions could play an integral role in improving the quality of services rendered at the facility. A Framework For Evaluating Dashboards in Healthcare Essay
Conclusion
The report contains the results for a benchmark of underperformance at Saint Anthony Hospital. The findings show that the issue of hospital readmissions remains profound in the organization. Saint Anthony Hospital should take immediate action to address the benchmark’s underperformance. Improving the readmission rates and compliance with health policies and laws could help enhance the quality of care and secure the organization’s financial viability. Collaboration is needed to meet the challenges and continue providing high-quality care to the community.
References
Karami, M., Langarizadeh, M., & Fatehi, M. (2017). Evaluation of effective dashboards: Key concepts and criteria. The Open Medical Informatics Journal, 11(1), 52-57. https://doi.org/10.2174/1874431101711010052
Kuznetsova, M., Frits, M. L., Dulgarian, S., Iannaccone, C., Mort, E., Bates, D. W., & Salmasian, H. (2021). An analysis of the structure and content of dashboards used to monitor patient safety in the inpatient setting. JAMIA Open, 4(4). https://doi.org/10.1093/jamiaopen/ooab096
Rabiei, R., & Almasi, S. (2022). Requirements and challenges of hospital dashboards: A systematic literature review. BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making. https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-1450850/v1
The new SAH – Saint Anthony Hospital – Chicago. (n.d.). https://sahchicago.org/the-new-sah
Zhuang, M., Concannon, D., & Manley, E. (2022). A framework for evaluating dashboards in healthcare. IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics, 28(4), 1715-1731. https://doi.org/10.1109/tvcg.2022.3147154 A Framework For Evaluating Dashboards in Healthcare Essay
Introduction
In advocating for institutional policy changes related to local, state, or federal health care laws or policies, health leaders must be able to develop and present clear and well-written policy and practice guideline proposals that will enable a team, a unit, or an organization as a whole to resolve relevant performance issues and bring about improvements in the quality and safety of health care. This assignment offers you an opportunity to take the lead in proposing such changes.
As a master’s-level health care practitioner, you have a valuable viewpoint and voice to bring to discussions about policy development, both inside and outside your care setting. Developing policy for internal purposes can be a valuable process toward quality and safety improvement, as well as ensuring compliance with various health care regulatory pressures. This assignment offers you an opportunity to take the lead in proposing such changes. A Framework For Evaluating Dashboards in Healthcare Essay
Propose an organizational policy and practice guidelines that you believe will lead to an improvement in quality and performance associated with the benchmark underperformance you advocated for improving in Week 4. Be precise, professional, and persuasive in demonstrating the merit of your proposed actions.
Requirements
The policy proposal requirements outlined below correspond to the rubric criteria, so be sure to address each main point. Read the performance-level descriptions for each criterion to see how your work will be assessed. In addition, be sure to note the requirements for document format and length and for supporting evidence. A Framework For Evaluating Dashboards in Healthcare Essay
In advocating for institutional policy changes related to local, state, or federal health care laws or policies, health leaders must be able to develop and present clear and well-written policy and practice guideline proposals that will enable a team, a unit, or an organization as a whole to resolve relevant performance issues and bring about improvements in the quality and safety of health care. This assignment offers you an opportunity to take the lead in proposing such changes.
As a master’s-level health care practitioner, you have a valuable viewpoint and voice to bring to discussions about policy development, both inside and outside your care setting. Developing policy for internal purposes can be a valuable process toward quality and safety improvement, as well as ensuring compliance with various health care regulatory pressures. This assignment offers you an opportunity to take the lead in proposing such changes. A Framework For Evaluating Dashboards in Healthcare Essay