Chapter 6
- 2. Introduction • Healthcare systems are evaluated on 3 criteria: 1. Quality of healthcare 2. Equity of healthcare 3. Efficiency • Can be assessed at the Micro or Macro levels • Performance can be evaluated by gold standards, best possible performance, benchmark
- 3. Quality of Healthcare • Assessed in terms of structure, process and outcomes • Structure-the condition under which care is provided • Includes material resources, equipment, facility, human resources, number and qualities of professional resources • Process- is taken to mean activities that constitute healthcare- diagnosis, treatment, rehab, prevention, and patient education • Structure and process help influence the outcomes or effectiveness of healthcare • Outcomes are taken to mean changes in individuals and populations (good or bad) that can be attributed to healthcare • Two types: patient outcomes and population outcomes- people who have and have not received healthcare
- 4. Population Health Outcomes • Population mortality and morbidity rates-number of deaths in a given population per year • IMR (infant mortality rate) • YPLL (years of potential life lost)-# of yrs expected in a given population • HALE (healthy life expectancy)-avg # of yrs to live in full health • QALY (quality adjusted life years)-perceived health status as the indicator of quality of life • DALY (disability-adjusted life years) • YHL (years of healthy life)
- 5. Clinical Outcomes • Health outcomes that are specific to the persons who receive care are often called clinical outcomes • Examples: Readmissions to hospital after a surgical procedure, functional capacity after medical intervention, long-term pain and discomfort after medical treatment, infection acquired after a hospital stay (nosocomial) Micro Level/Clinical Outcomes: 2 aspects of Quality: Effectiveness: whether care produces the desired outcome • Evidence-based-scientifically valid and, empirical research • Standards against which quality is measured is based on clinical research
- 6. Clinical Effectiveness Effectiveness: whether care produces the desired outcome • Evidence-based-scientifically valid and, empirical research • Standards against which quality is measured is based on clinical research • Clinical outcomes research is the foundation of quality improvement efforts at the micro level • Published clinical outcome studies have been synthesized by experts in the field and are translated into clinical practice guidelines or evidence-based “best practices” • AHRQ, CDC, and NIH
- 7. Patient Safety • Improving the quality of healthcare through the application of methods borrowed from other industries • Deming was an American statistician, father of modern quality-TQM: • Freedom from accidental injury; ensuring patient safety involves the establishment of operational systems and processes that minimizes the likelihood of errors and maximizes the likelihood of intercepting them when they occur
- 8. The Joint Commission & Other HC Accrediting Organizations • In order for a hc organization to participate in and receive reimbursement from Medicare/Medicaid, they must be certified as complying with the Conditions of Participation • Based on a survey conducted by a state agency on behalf of CMS • If a national accrediting organization, such ad the TJC enforces standards that meet the federal guidelines of participation, CMS may grant the organization “deeming” authority and “deem” each accredited hc organization as meeting the CMS certification requirements • Other accrediting bodies p. 184
- 9. Public/Private Partnerships Providers of hc performance information: • For consumers and purchasers • NQF-National Quality Forum and the Leapfrog Group • Developing standard measures of hospital quality and disseminating to purchasers and consumers • IHI-Institute for Healthcare Improvement-not for profit organization that focuses on the mission and goals set forth by IOM’s six improvement aims: safety, effectiveness, patient centeredness, timeliness, efficiency, and equity • State legislators have passed laws for hospitals to disclose infection rates
- 10. Equity of Healthcare • 2nd criterion used to evaluate performance of HC systems • Fair allocation of benefits and burdens among those that are deserving of care and those who are in a position to pay for it • Inequities in access to hc as well as inequities in the quality of hc • Factors associated with inequities: • SES, race and ethnicity, and geographic location • Low income, low education, rural or inner cities • Leads to fewer preventive medicine procedures • Studies suggest that that the gap in disparities of care may be closing and it is not as much of an issue as the overall quality of care for all groups
- 11. Equity and Access • People without health insurance have reduced access to hc • Patchwork system of employer-based insurance, public insurance programs and CMS leave 46.1 million people without health insurance • Millions underinsured • Do not have usual place to go and more likely to use safety net providers such as emergency rooms and community health centers • Some choose not to have it or cannot afford it or there are no local resources
- 12. Efficiency • 3rd criterion for judging a hc system • Create the combination of goods and services with the highest attainable total value, given limited resources and technology • Allocative efficiency-attaining the most valued mix of hc services, ex: how much to invest in preventive vs curable medical services • Production efficiency-producing a given level of hc services at minimum cost , ex: sub low-cost RNs for higher-cost physicians
- 13. National Scorecard • Ability to evaluate the US hc system comprehensively • Commonwealth Fund developed a scorecard that evaluates on quality, access, equity and efficiency • Macro level evaluation of hc comparing national scores to benchmarks (top performing groups) • 42 performance indicators and 5 broad domains • Domains: health outcomes, quality, access, efficiency, and equity
- 14. Data and Information Technology • Organizations recognize need for better data in order to benchmark current situation and determine if improvements have occurred in quality, access and equity, and cost and efficiency • Proper functioning of hc requires an advanced health information network that supports clinical care, personal health mngt, population health, and research-does not yet exist! • Health information systems need to evaluate performance internally and externally (between organizations)-latter Regional Health Info Organizations • EHR is major sources of data for internal health info and RHIOs • Data included: used for clinical outcome studies, population health outcomes (morbidity & mortality), design and evaluate interventions to improve clinical practice, and increase access, equity and efficiency
- 15. ONC • Office of National Coordinator for Health Information Technology • Part of DHHS • 4 goals: informing clinicians, interconnecting clinicians, personalizing hc, and improving population healt 1. Informing Clinicians-slow adoption of EHRs attributed to cost of hardware/software and training and disruption of the current workflow, access to ehrs in rural areas and develop incentives-MU 2. Interconnecting Clinicians-provide access to patient health info in any healthcare setting, any place in the US-a network that can be accessed by any health care provider, common set of communication standards
- 16. ONC • Personalizing HC • 3rd goal-equip patients to participate actively in their own health care and in decision making through the development of a national health info system • Use of PHRs-electronic application through which individuals can maintain and manage their health info in a private, secure, confidential manner • 4th goal-Population Health-improve through Nat’l Healthcare Information system-unify public health surveillance, streamline quality and health status monitoring of populations • React early or prevent issues
- 17. Conclusions • 3 criteria pf performance: quality of hc, equity of hc, and efficiency of hc • Quality-over last 20 yrs increased effort has developed to measure and improve quality at the micro-level • Evaluations of clinical effectiveness and patient safety are based on empirical studies that provide evidence about best practices and are foundations of clinical practice guidelines • EHR standard for all hc providers • Health information systems will affect the work and future of all healthcare professionals