Dashboard Benchmark Evaluation

Provision of adequate health care is the primary objective of health care provider facilities across the entire world. Aiming at realizing their objectives, healthcare organizations develop benchmarks to provide them with a visual definition regarding how they can enhance the patient services they give to patients. Specifically, the benchmarks are utilized to make an analysis of internal data as well as local and international data. It can thus be argued out that benchmarking in a health care provision facility is the process of measuring an organization's internal process to facilitate a clear understanding and enhance adaption of outstanding practices from other organization offering bests in class services. Performance benchmark is a layered information system that presents the health care service delivering organization with the most vital information about specific objectives realization that in turn assists management in measuring, monitoring and managing performance in an effective manner (Ghazisaeidi, et al., 2015). To facilitate an understanding of how healthcare provision facilities, make use of evaluation benchmarks, a consideration of Mercy Medical Centre will be considered in this essay. Mercy Medical Center makes use of benchmarks to evaluate readmission, public health errors demographic and the safety of the patients.

Benchmarks set by Local, State, or Federal Healthcare Policies

Dashboards are intended to concentrate on quality and safety and include other issues regarding the safety of the patient such as documenting serious safety events reviews, risk mitigation trends and defining the effect of quality and safety issues due to staffing and other challenges. Mercy nursing develops metrics that expounds that the organization is meeting benchmarks standards set by local, state and federal Healthcare policies. The benchmark so developed by the healthcare providers in consideration reveals the local national readmission, rates for various ailments such as Pneumonia and Heart failure. Together with setting their evaluation on the noted ailments, the healthcare organization has developed its benchmarks on other factors such as the number of falls, medication mistake pressure scores, patient injuries and documentation errors of various departments within the hospital.

According to Local Public Act of Minnesota states, the state, and the local government has a shared responsibility in healthcare. On the other hand, the state and the local government reference to health care bear specific responsibilities such as defining responsibility for backing on statewide proposals, stipulating principles for examination and mapping and required documentation development towards the attainment of statewide objectives and assign lapse of statewide system to the representative of health.

Benchmark Challenges

Despite defining evaluation benchmarks with the aim of enhancing patients care service, the benchmarks are faced by three challenges that may erupt from the incorrect documentation, cultural diversity, age diversity and assuring that patients are getting right diagnosis and treatment. Starting with demographics of the country in which Mercy Medical is located, it is point clear that it contributes to the problems that the organization in consideration faces. The healthcare provision in consideration is located in Scott County Minnesota. By the year 2016, the county has an overall population of about 139, 672 citizens while the state has a population of five million, four hundred and fifty-seven thousand and one hundred and seventy-three citizens. The population comprises 82.9% of Non-Hispanic white, while 28.8% of the population is below the age of 18 (Health, 2018). With the noted diversity, it has proven hard for the health organization to meet the health care needs of the population.

Benchmarks Underperformance

Significant changes have been instituted Mercy Medical Hospital were made to improve the number of falls in the medical and surgical and Labor and delivery departments. Irrespective of the noted improvements, the department of orthopedics and Bariatric service have indicated an increment in the number of falls between the years of 2015 and 2016. For the facility to realize the objective of meeting health care needs upon their patients in an expected manner, it calls for the management to devise a benchmark strategy that will work in all departments of the hospital. Embracing the noted move will see to it that instances of underperformance at the hospital setting are dealt with effectively. According to Rutherford, Provost, Kotagal, Luther, & Anderson, (2017), the realization of hospital-wide patient flow and improved outcomes require an appreciation of the hospitals as interconnected interdependent system care.

Underperformed benchmarks can, however, be improved via focusing on addressing cultural and age diversity. As earlier mentioned, diversity of the country contributes to what is being reported as challenges of benchmark underperformance. Noted vice can be combated via implementing an action to improve diversity and aspect of competence practices within the hospital setting (Dreachslin, Weech-Maldonado, Jordan, Gail, & Epané, 2017). Expanding marketing strategies and community outreach is a crucial means of improving the age and cultural underperformance within the facility.

Conclusion

Benchmark, as noted in the case study regarding Mercy Medical Centre, plays a vital role in evaluating standards put in place in a given facility with an aim of finding out whether they are being met or not. Regardless of the fact that Mercy Medical Center has defined its benchmarks in respect to local, state and federal levels, the health care faces a primary challenge in implementing its benchmarks as a result of cultural and age diversity. The situation can, however, be improved via setting up an action that will see to it that all departments within the hospital are working a single unit.

References

Dreachslin, J., Weech-Maldonado, R., Jordan, L., Gail, J., & Epané, J. P. (2017). Blueprint for Sustainable Change in Diversity Management and Cultural Competence: Lessons From the National Center for Healthcare Leadership Diversity Demonstration Project. Journal of Healthcare Management, 171-185.

Ghazisaeidi, M., Safdari, R., Torabi, M., Mirzaee, M., Farzi, J., & Goodini, A. (2015). evelopment of Performance Dashboards in Healthcare Sector: Key Practical Issues. Acta Informatica Medica, 317-321.