Clinic Metrics and How They Are Measured
It has always been said that you cannot manage what you cannot measure. Therefore, every aspect that requires management can only be deemed effective if there are numbers to validate claims and observations. This applies in the medical world, too, as seen in the presence of clinic metrics. Normally, what is used to ultimately present performance from a clinical standpoint is a scorecard.
Scorecards are used to obtain balance in several aspects of the business. Companies use this as a business strategy and these figures are shown in their report. This may show a program-wise or organizational wide performance and this may also be drilled down to the rank and file employee level. The reason this is being practiced is because there should be a well defined set of targets that need to be achieved. This promotes awareness to all parties concerned and this will help employees realize their goals, as mandated by the organization.
Measuring the effectiveness of clinical performance may somewhat be deemed difficult. This is because medicine is a totally different industry from manufacturing where the usage of KPIs and metrics originated. KPI stands for Key Performance Indicators. These are the specific items that are measured to determine efficiency. These may include productivity and customer satisfaction.
For clinics, what may be measured as part of the metric is timeliness of delivery of medicine. This may also include accuracy of diagnosis. This is very integral in the management of hospitals since wrong diagnosis is critical and will only add insult to injury. Each medical facility may have its own version of what needs to be measured.
Normally, there are categories that are measured to indicate clinical efficiency. These categories are standardized to ensure that the service that patients get is of equal standard. The first thing that needs to be measured is Clinical Risk and Patient Safety. Obviously, people go to hospitals to have their ailments cured, so it is ironic that patients get hurt in hospitals instead of getting cured. There have also been reports that show how a patient who had had a blood transfusion contracted another disease. Apparently, the blood of the donor was not checked. These are the kinds of safety measures that medical institutions should always look into to avoid hazards. Other than this, the facility should also be safe. Elevators, ladders, and others should not pose a threat to patients.
Next in line involves Clinical Appropriateness and Clinical Efficiency. What is measured here is not only the efficiency of the staff but the entire process. How does a patient check in and check out? Simple things such as this will seriously impact the clinic’s performance. It should be noted that there has to be flow in everything. This also takes into consideration the rounds conducted by nurses and where they log everything that they have checked.
In essence, clinic metrics is something that needs to be measured in every general aspect. However, this has to be broken down to pieces per department to promote overall efficiency. This makes the tasks easier to understand and the processes more streamlined.
