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Proper assessment requires the right data. Information about acquisition and use of resources, the outcomes of services and the relationship between outcomes and the use of resources are all necessary. For adequate and accurate assessment, these parameters, inputs, outputs and outcomes, need to be measured in a variety of ways.
The goal of performance measurement is to manage for better results. Existing data can be used to set goals and objectives, plan activities to accomplish the given goals, program modification to enhance performance, proper resource allocation, and continuous evaluation of results to determine if progress is being made. The information gathered by performance measurement needs to be presented in a manner that is usable to individuals making decisions in that arena.
There are four elements of in most performance measurement systems: service effort indicators, service accomplishment indicators, efficiency indicators, and explanatory information. An example of service effort indicators as it relates to healthcare is the amount of money spent per hospital bed. There are relevant non-monetary inputs as well. A service accomplishment indicator measures the workload accomplished. An example of an indicator of service accomplishment, as it relate to healthcare, would be the volume of patients seen in a given department of hospital over a specified time period. Efficiency indicators are a ratio of the service effort to service accomplishment indicators. Explanatory information is the part of performance measurement that translates the data into the criteria that can be utilized.
Performance measurement can be used as a tool to facilitate increased efficiency. Performance measurement can help with strategic planning, by defining the services of a program and identifying those issues that require attention. This can help to define an organization’s goal. An example in healthcare is the separation of overlap between a large teaching hospital and a small community hospital. If a small community hospital finds that certain types of cases taken are extremely costly, due to lack of materials or trained personnel in that area, it would behoove the organization to change it’s self definition to one that doesn’t treat the patient with the given disorder.
Performance measurement can help with performance planning by identifying outputs and defining benchmarks from baseline measures. As a tool, Performance Measurement can aid in decision-making efforts.
