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Managing a modern healthcare facility is complicated. It requires the simultaneous monitoring and investigation of factors, indicators, and consequences – both in its internal and external environment.

Good management of a healthcare facility requires the use of methods and techniques based on evidence, facts, and real data. It requires a scientific approach to managerial decision-making because its lack can be very expensive – for everyone including management teams, patients, taxpayers, and politicians.

Effective management of a hospital can only be achieved through a diagnostic analysis that provides orientation and answers to important questions related to measuring every aspect of the activity. The questions are often raised by the high degree of uncertainty inherent in healthcare management and the healthcare sector.

Hospitals must deal with the problem of measuring and management of their performance and effectiveness. The most original and innovative approach would be to use a model for hospital performance measurement and management. There are plenty of instruments but no very specific model for a complex modern diagnostic for health care managers.

After a huge review of hospital performance reports and literature review, a specific model was developed (see fig. 1 ).

Hospital performance analysis

Source: M Georgieva, E Moutafova. Hospital Performance Measurement in Bulgaria in Health Reforms in southeast Europe. Palgrave Macmillan, London. 2012.

The model is supported by 12 diagnostic cards, an algorithm for implementation, diagnostic matrix, and a practical list of indicators.

What are hospital quality metrics?

Hospital quality metrics are a crucial tool for improving the quality of care provided by hospitals. Patients, payers, hospitals, and policymakers can collaborate using these metrics to ensure that all patients receive the highest quality of care possible.

Hospital quality metrics are a set of standardised measures used to assess the quality of care provided by hospitals. These metrics cover a wide range of areas, including:

  • Clinical processes of care: This includes measures such as the percentage of patients who receive recommended preventive care services, the percentage of patients who receive timely and appropriate treatment for specific conditions, and the rate of hospital-acquired infections.
  • Patient outcomes: This includes measures such as mortality rates, readmission rates, and patient satisfaction with their care.
  • Patient experience: This includes measures such as patient satisfaction with communication, pain management, and overall care coordination.
  • Efficiency: This includes measures such as the average length of stay, the number of unnecessary tests and procedures, and the cost of care.
  • Structure and leadership: This includes measures such as the qualifications of the hospital’s staff, the availability of resources, and the quality of the hospital’s governance and leadership.

5 top reasons to study healthcare management

Here are some examples of hospital quality metrics:

  • Mortality rate: The number of deaths per 1,000 patients admitted to the hospital.
  • Readmission rate: The percentage of patients who are readmitted to the hospital within 30 days of discharge.
  • Patient satisfaction score: A score that measures how satisfied patients are with their care.
  • Average length of stay: The average number of days that patients spend in the hospital.
  • Hospital-acquired infection rate: The rate at which patients acquire infections while in the hospital.
  • Preventive care rate: The percentage of patients who receive recommended preventive care services, such as mammograms and colonoscopies.

What are Hospital Performance Measures?

Hospital performance measures are metrics used to assess and evaluate the quality, efficiency, and effectiveness of healthcare services provided by hospitals. These measures are important tools for monitoring and improving the performance of healthcare organisations, promoting patient safety, and enhancing the overall quality of care. 

Various stakeholders, including government agencies, healthcare professionals, insurance companies, and patients, use these measures to make informed decisions about healthcare delivery and to ensure accountability within the healthcare system.

Some common categories of hospital performance measures include:

  • Clinical Quality Measures:

These measures assess the quality of clinical care provided to patients at the hospital. Examples are: 

  • Mortality rates (death rates)
  • Readmission rates (percentage of patients readmitted within a certain timeframe)
  • Length of stay (average number of days patients stay in the hospital)
  • Complication rates (percentage of patients who experience complications after treatment)
  • Infection rates (percentage of patients who develop infections while in the hospital)
  • Patient Experience:

These assess the level of satisfaction and experience patients have with the care they receive. Patient satisfaction surveys may cover areas such as communication with healthcare providers, responsiveness of hospital staff, and overall hospital experience. It also includes patient safety measures taken to prevent and reduce errors, Hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) and adverse reactions causing harm to patients. 

  • Efficiency and Cost Measures:

These measures focus on the utilisation of resources and the cost-effectiveness of healthcare delivery. Examples include measures related to length of hospital stay, readmission rates, bed occupancy rate, operating margin, ROI, etc. 

Final thoughts:

Hospital performance measurement can help managers be effective. And also, to manage in cases when the healthcare organisation is at crossroads in its development and needs assistance in making management decisions regarding:

  • business optimisation (business expansion, integration of two or more activities, offering new services);
  • human resources (when there is a need for staff with different abilities; to release some of the staff, who exactly and so on);
  • financial management (search for new investors, diversification of financial sources, the introduction of new approaches to attracting funds);
  • strategic decisions (organisational growth, merger, contraction, mission change).

Wanted to build the skills required to analyse hospital performance effectively? Learn more about our one-year accredited online MBA in Healthcare Management Recognised for Canadian Migration or Online Post Graduate Diploma in Healthcare Management & Leadership at affordable fees. 

Contact Our Academic Advisory Team today to get started.


Written by

Dr. Mila Dimitrova, PhD

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