Performance Indicators in Brookwood Medical Center - Essay Example

"Performance Indicators in Brookwood Medical Center" is a perfect example of a paper on the health system.
According to Baker and Baker (2014), performance reports are important instruments used to measure or weigh the fiscal situation as well as the level of advancement in healthcare institutions and also other organizations. In doing so, these instruments provide information and statistics used in measuring performance. This paper describes the principle performance indicators used in Brookwood Medical Center and what these indicators reveal about the performance of the facility. This paper also explains how performance is measured within my organization through analyzing the leading and trailing performance indicators.

Performance indicators in Brookwood Medical Center

Brookwood Medical Center is a major healthcare institution located in Alabama in the U.S. The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (2001) report outlines a number of performance indicators used to measure the level of performance in the facility. These indicators include patients' rights, ethics, assessment of patients, care, leadership, and management (The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, 2001)). To measure performance, The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations uses a scale of 1 to 5; with 1 being the highest level of conformity and 5 being the lowest level of conformity with the national standards. Patients' rights and ethics were given a score of 1 and this shows the facility respects the rights of the patients and as well observes the highest level of morals. Assessment of patients as an indicator reveals how the processes of evaluating patients' care are conducted. In the area of assessment of patients, the facility is given a score of 1 in most of these areas. Care of patients measures reveals how care is planned within the facility, how the medication is used, nutrition care, and also how rehabilitation is conducted. The facility is awarded a score of 1 in most of these areas and hence all services relating to patients' care are of high quality. In terms of leadership, the indicator shows how leadership is incorporated in the process of care to improve performance. Management as an indicator reveals how the facility manages its environment, human resource, and information (The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, 2001).

Measuring performance in my organization

According to Laureate Education Inc (2012), there are two types of performance indicators; namely leading performance indicators and trailing performance indicators. Leading performance indicators relate to the future of the organization while trailing performance indicators relates to past occurrences. In my organization, performance is measured using structural indicators, processes of care, and the outcome of care. In terms of structural determiners, the number of staff available is evaluated in comparison with the number of patients the facility receives. An adequate ratio of nurses to patients for instance translates to improved performance as nurse burnout is reduced. Processes of care such as screening and evaluation of patients are measured in terms of end results. Results in preceding years are compared with the current data and information to identify whether there has been an improvement in outcomes. In doing so, the facility is able to predict future outcomes of healthcare processes or procedures. For instance, my organization measures the outcome of a medical procedure through the number of days a patient stays in the hospital or time-span of admission to measure the recovery rate of patients. Comparing the results relating to the time-span of admission with past results shows whether there have been improvements. This comparison helps identify areas that need improvements in order to meet the needs of future generations. In a nutshell, performance indicators used in measuring the progress of healthcare institutions include structural indicators, processes of care, and the outcome of care.