It’s often said that knowledge is power.
And to harness that power you must harness all the available information in service of improved patient outcomes. By tracking these Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), you can begin to turn your spreadsheets into goals and strategies that improve the quality of your care.
KPIs are performance measurements supported by evidence-based academic literature or, when such evidence is unavailable, through the consensus of experts.
According to the Joint Commission, KPIs are not intended to be direct measures of quality, but rather should serve as benchmarks to help identify your opportunities for improvement, as well as quantify the improvements you’ve made toward existing goals.
These four KPIs can have the most immediate impact on your patient outcomes and move you closer to compliance with the new 2018 Joint Commission patient safety goals.
1. 30-Day Readmission Rates
Reducing the number of hospital readmissions that occur within 30 days has been a priority since 2013, when the Hospital Readmission Reduction Program (HRRP) went into effect, imposing fines on hospitals whose rate is above the national average. In 2018, Medicare expects penalties for 80% of the 3,241 CMS evaluated hospitals (2,573) are expected to total about $528 million. That’s an average penalty of more than $200,000 per hospital.
High readmission rates can suggest procedural gaps in patient care that might be the root of any number of problems that impact patient outcomes and generate unnecessary expenses. Antiquated or disconnected information systems are not enough in the current value-based environment.
To fully address readmission rates, you will need to address other related KPIs, such as the number of “frequent flyers” (patients with abnormally high readmissions), as well as patients with chronic conditions like asthma, COPD, congestive heart failure, coronary artery disease, — each will require specific protocols and processes to address them individually.
