Measurements for Performance in Healthcare

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Readmission rates as measurements of performance within healthcare settings often reflect the quality of care. The quantity of patients that re-enter a hospital is an indicator of a number of clinical or administrative errors. This mostly pertains to patients that return to a hospital with the same condition for which they were treated earlier and discharged. While it reflects the performance of the staff it is also a look into overlooked compilations in general. As such, the reduction of hospital readmissions directly affects the ways in which the quality and provision of care are perceived not only within the hospital but also outside it. Some studies link organizational culture with other measurement factors such as readmission rates (Lee et al., 2018). This is relevant as many hospitals prioritize organizational culture as the primary component of good performance measurements but often fail to incorporate other factors such as readmission.

Within the age of social media, positive responses from patients become even more vital to the safety and quality of care of a hospital as unsolicited but after rapidly shared feedback may emerge on social media sites. High readmission rates, especially as the result of clinical or administrative errors, may often cause backlash or poor customer satisfaction reports from patients. As such, readmission rates can signal practical errors within hospital settings as well as the quality of customer care. High rates of readmission are likely to result in adverse responses from patients, thereby creating issues within the practical aspects of medical care as well as the organizational structure. Readmission rates are vital to understanding both internal and external issues of a hospital or clinic. They are able to measure both the quality of care and procedures as well as the relationship between a hospital and its patients.

A tool in measuring the quality of hospital procedures and their effectiveness directly is the assessment of mortality rates. Essentially, the measurement observes and compares the real statistical data of deaths within a hospital and the expected rate of deaths that is calculated from prior years. As such, the measure has a clear link to the way a facility is able to effectively manage preventable deaths. While this measurement can be irrelevant in extreme situations such as pandemics or natural disasters, it functions sufficiently on a day-to-day basis of hospital operations. It is also a vital statistical collection of data as it is directly reflecting preventable deaths and the effectiveness of the medical staff in overcoming issues posed by them.

Mortality rates may also expose a number of exterior issues that directly affect patients and medical facilities. Certain conditions such as strokes may lead to higher rates of mortality due to a number of exterior factors such as insufficient check-ups, socioeconomic background, and care accessibility (Lingsma et al., 2018). Similarly, mortality rates may be higher in disadvantaged neighborhoods and remote areas in contrast to their local populations. As such, while this tool can monitor the effectiveness and quality of the care provided by healthcare professionals, it may also expose social and economic factors that play a role in mortality. This can be observed through the assessment of mortality rates of certain hospitals and social, legal, and economic factors that affect the neighborhood or district in which they are located. As such, it is an essential measurement unit when it comes to assessing the overall performance of medical staff in any medical facility or hospital while also acknowledging exterior factors of certain locations and communities.