Evidence map›Paper›PMID 27733194›Full record

ArticleBMC health services research2016

Are performance indicators used for hospital quality management: a qualitative interview study amongst health professionals and quality managers in The Netherlands.

Daan Botje, Guus Ten Asbroek, Thomas Plochg, Helen Anema, Dionne S Kringos, Claudia Fischer, Cordula Wagner, Niek S Klazinga

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Article in BMC health services research, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 17 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
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17citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
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1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

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3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

17 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

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4 · The record

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors.

Daan BotjeAmphia Hospital, Langendijk 75, P.O. box 90157, 4800 RA, Breda, The Netherlands. daanbotje@hotmail.com.ORCID 0000-0002-2374-8762
Guus Ten AsbroekAhti, Amsterdam Health & Technology Institute, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Thomas PlochgDepartment of Public Health, Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Helen AnemaDepartment of Public Health, Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Dionne S KringosDepartment of Public Health, Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Claudia FischerPhilips Research, Cambridge, UK.
Cordula WagnerNIVEL, Netherlands Institute for Health Services Research, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Niek S KlazingaDepartment of Public Health, Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundHospitals are under increasing pressure to share indicator-based performance information. These indicators can also serve as a means to promote quality improvement and boost hospital performance. Our aim was to explore hospitals' use of performance indicators for internal quality management activities.

methodsWe conducted a qualitative interview study among 72 health professionals and quality managers in 14 acute care hospitals in The Netherlands. Concentrating on orthopaedic and oncology departments, our goal was to gain insight into data collection and use of performance indicators for two conditions: knee and hip replacement surgery and breast cancer surgery. The semi-structured interviews were recorded and summarised. Based on the data, themes were synthesised and the analyses were executed systematically by two analysts independently. The findings were validated through comparison.

resultsThe hospitals we investigated collect data for performance indicators in different ways. Similarly, these hospitals have different ways of using such data to support their quality management, while some do not seem to use the data for this purpose at all. Factors like 'linking pin champions', pro-active quality managers and engaged medical specialists seem to make a difference. In addition, a comprehensive hospital data infrastructure with electronic patient records and robust data collection software appears to be a prerequisite to produce reliable external performance indicators for internal quality improvement.

conclusionsHospitals often fail to use performance indicators as a means to support internal quality management. Such data, then, are not used to its full potential. Hospitals are recommended to focus their human resource policy on 'linking pin champions', the engagement of professionals and a pro-active quality manager, and to invest in a comprehensive data infrastructure. Furthermore, the differences in data collection processes between Dutch hospitals make it difficult to draw comparisons between outcomes of performance indicators.

Indexed as

Health PersonnelHospital AdministratorsQuality Indicators, Health CareElectronic Health RecordsHospital AdministrationHospitalsHumansInterviews as TopicNetherlandsQualitative ResearchQuality ControlHospitalsInterview studyPerformance indicatorsQuality management

Identifiers

PMID27733194
PMCPMC5062914

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