Your organization's performance is being compared, right now, to other facilities across town and across the country.More hospital performance data is readily available than ever before, and benchmarking is implicitly required by some Joint Commission standards and CMS measures. Gathering meaningful data is vital in the era of "pay for performance," and payers and agencies are calling for more transparency in quality improvement data.
The need for benchmarking is clearly growing, and many hospital staff are being asked to run benchmarking projects for the first time. They don't know where or how to begin, or what data to collect. They have fundamental benchmarking questions such as:
- "What data should we gather?"
- "When should we collect it?"
- "What do we do with it once we've collected it?"
Get up-to-date answers to all your benchmarking questionsHelp is here with HCPro's new book, "Benchmarking Basics: ""A Resource Guide for Healthcare Managers. "This resource takes healthcare managers through the benchmarking process, step-by-step. It explains how to implement benchmarking programs that use valid data to answer a variety of questions, make accurate comparisons, and measure a hospital's overall performance, both internally and against facilities nationwide. Readers will also learn when "not" to benchmark, and how to avoid commonly made mistakes that can affect results.This easy-to-use handbook and CD-ROM also features
- explanations of common benchmarking terms and concepts
- step-by-step instructions for getting started
- procedures, forms, checklists, and examples for finding and collecting applicable data case studies
- extensive resource lists tips for accurately comparing benchmarking data.
Use the expert guidance in "Benchmarking Basics" to: - decide what type of benchmarking is appropriate to your organization, and when
- select the right benchmarking resources and make the best use of them to meet Joint Commission standards for performance improvement, or to meet other needs
- understand what your data shows and how to explain it to hospital staff, leaders, and regulators
In every chapter of the book, you'll find a concise summary of topics, as well as tips on potential trouble spots and what pitfalls to avoid.Learn how to make the numbers work for you!
Effective benchmarking does more than ensure regulatory compliance--it can also be a very useful tool for marketing and public relations, comparing performance against national averages, identifying strategic and operational trouble spots, and gauging internal improvement.Electronic tools will help you get everyone on the same page
"Benchmarking Basics" A Resource Guide for Healthcare Managers features a free companion CD-ROM that includes an electronic appendix of benchmark databases, Web sites, and resources you can access for additional information. The CD-ROM also includes a customizable presentation tool that explains what benchmarking can do for your organization.
