SynthesisBMC health services research2022
The contribution of benchmarking to quality improvement in healthcare. A systematic literature review.
Synthesis in BMC health services research, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT05901155 (Impact of medAL-mentor, a Real-time Mentoring and Benchmarking Tool, on Antibiotic Prescription Among Children in Primary Health Care Facilities in Tanzania), which is not on this map. Cited by 57 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
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.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Impact of medAL-mentor, a Real-time Mentoring and Benchmarking Tool, on Antibiotic Prescription Among Children in Primary Health Care Facilities in Tanzania
Who cites it
57 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Data variables reported during neonatal transport: a systematic literature review.Journal of perinatology : official journal of the California Perinatal Association · 2026Pooled it
- The use of patient-reported outcome measures to improve patient-related outcomes - a systematic review.Health and quality of life outcomes · 2024Pooled it
- Self-reported acceptability and feasibility of a multimodal intervention to reduce antibiotic prescriptions for urinary tract infections in primary care: a process evaluation of the RedAres trial among general practitioners and medical practice assistants.BMC health services research · 2025Trial
- Article
- Comparative analysis of quality indicators in two ISO 9001:2015-certified community pharmacies (2020-2025).Farmaceuticos comunitarios · 2026Article
- Establishing a benchmark for patient comfort during colonoscopy and esophagogastroduodenoscopy using the St. Paul's Endoscopic Comfort Scale (SPECS).Journal of the Canadian Association of Gastroenterology · 2026Article
- Dehiscence, infection, seroma, haematoma (DISH): development and validation of a new classification of surgical site outcomes.The British journal of surgery · 2026Article
- Review
- Enhancing Clinical Depression Treatment Outcomes: A Comprehensive Approach Using Measurement-Based Care, Research Benchmarks, and Systematic Quality Improvements.Administration and policy in mental health · 2026Article
- Development and validation of multivariable risk adjustment models for return of spontaneous circulation and survival to hospital discharge following out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in England.European heart journal. Quality of care & clinical outcomes · 2026Article
- Role and Characteristic of Multidisciplinarity in Hepatocellular Carcinoma Management and Care Pathway Certification: Bottom-Up Approach of the MDT Project in Italy.Oncology and therapy · 2026Article
- The impact of best practice meetings on clinical outcomes in surgical and oncological care: a scoping review.Journal of thoracic disease · 2026Review
- Benchmarking for continuous improvement in food retail environments: a systematic scoping review.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Emergency department cardiac arrest in Thailand: a two-regional medical center comparative cohort study of characteristics, resuscitation processes, and outcomes.Resuscitation plus · 2026Article
- Article
- The Palliative Aged Care Outcomes Program (PACOP): establishing a national framework to improve palliative care in long-term care facilities for older people.BMC geriatrics · 2026Article
- Associations Among Lifestyle Behaviors, Academic Achievement, and Physical Diseases in Adolescents: A Cross-Lagged Network Analysis.Nutrients · 2026Article
- Establishing Expert Consensus on a Unified Decision Framework for Retina Patient Care.Ophthalmology and therapy · 2026Article
- [Variability in patient safety culture at Brazilian hospitals: influence of contextual factors].Cadernos de saude publica · 2026Article
- Use of design thinking to develop a benchmarking tool to assess documentation procedures in a hospital pharmacy aseptic compounding unit: a case study.European journal of hospital pharmacy : science and practice · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundBenchmarking has been recognised as a valuable method to help identify strengths and weaknesses at all levels of the healthcare system. Despite a growing interest in the practice and study of benchmarking, its contribution to quality of care have not been well elucidated. As such, we conducted a systematic literature review with the aim of synthesizing the evidence regarding the relationship between benchmarking and quality improvement. We also sought to provide evidence on the associated strategies that can be used to further stimulate quality improvement.
methodsWe searched three databases (PubMed, Web of Science and Scopus) for articles studying the impact of benchmarking on quality of care (processes and outcomes). Following assessment of the articles for inclusion, we conducted data analysis, quality assessment and critical synthesis according to the PRISMA guidelines for systematic literature review.
resultsA total of 17 articles were identified. All studies reported a positive association between the use of benchmarking and quality improvement in terms of processes (N = 10), outcomes (N = 13) or both (N = 7). In the majority of studies (N = 12), at least one intervention, complementary to benchmarking, was undertaken to stimulate quality improvement. The interventions ranged from meetings between participants to quality improvement plans and financial incentives. A combination of multiple interventions was present in over half of the studies (N = 10).
conclusionsThe results generated from this review suggest that the practice of benchmarking in healthcare is a growing field, and more research is needed to better understand its effects on quality improvement. Furthermore, our findings indicate that benchmarking may stimulate quality improvement, and that interventions, complementary to benchmarking, seem to reinforce this improvement. Although this study points towards the benefit of combining performance measurement with interventions in terms of quality, future research should further analyse the impact of these interventions individually.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.