To ensure that a given system provides the necessary and desired information, the design of the system needs to be addressed (American Medical Association, 1999). This paper will discuss clinical performance measurement mainly on two fronts: what needs to be measured and how it needs to be measured.
What is measured?Clinical performance measurement focuses mainly on the outcomes rather than the processes involved in healthcare. Without a doubt, the outcomes are the true products of healthcare. Outcomes range from the added quality and length of life added via clinical intervention. In many cases, mortality serves as the proxy for the outcome. However, if the main aim of the assessment is determining variations in performance, it would be advisable to measureboth the outcomes and the processes involved in healthcare (Block, 2006).Advantages of measuring both outcomes and processes
When we focus on outcomes, direct clinical attention towards a given objective is achieved. The patients’ health status is prioritized rather than interventions. Outcomes encourage the health sector to embrace technologies that help achieve long-term benefits. An evaluation of the processes is very important especially in cases of terminal illness (Block, 2006). For examplein the event of a renal failure in the course of treatment can be traced and the cause of renal failure identified and hence avoided in the …show more content…
However, if the incidences lie within the surgical team’s control, then performance is assessed from characteristics of the sick person at the point of admission. Factors outside the surgical wing like referral practices also influence the quality of care a patient receives in a health institution (Carey& Lloyd, 1995). PatientsFor the comparison of performance, the differences in the type of patients are factored in at this stage. A good example is where a clinical indicator like non-emergency deaths that occur in a health setting within of 30 days of surgery. To ensure that differences in diagnosis, severity and the complications that arise are accounted for, risk adjustment procedures are adapted (Donaldson, 1999). A good example is the APACHE