Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38053259›Full record

ArticleBMJ leader2024

Reducing unwarranted variation: can a 'clinical dashboard' be helpful for hospital executive boards and top-level leaders?

Ole Tjomsland, Christian Thoresen, Tor Ingebrigtsen, Eldar Søreide, Jan C Frich

Open access · hybridAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMJ leader, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
6citing papers in PubMed
3.5field-weighted citation impact, top 7% of its field
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

6 citing papers in PubMed, 8 citations in OpenAlex.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.

Ole TjomslandHelse Sor-Ost RHF, Hamar, Norway ole.tjomsland@helse-sorost.no.ORCID 0000-0002-6035-6768
Christian ThoresenHelse Sor-Ost RHF, Hamar, Norway.
Tor IngebrigtsenFaculty of Health Sciences, University of Tromsø, Tromsø, Norway.ORCID 0000-0001-5966-9786
Eldar SøreideFaculty of Health Sciences, University of Stavanger, Stavanger, Norway.
Jan C FrichUniversitetet i Oslo Avdeling for samfunnsmedisin, Oslo, Norway.ORCID 0000-0001-9079-7508
Stavanger University Hospital · NOUniversity of Oslo · NOUniversity of Stavanger · NOUNSW Sydney · AU

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

BACKGROUND/

aimIn the past decades, there has been an increasing focus on defining, identifying and reducing unwarranted variation in clinical practice. There have been several attempts to monitor and reduce unwarranted variation, but the experience so far is that these initiatives have failed to reach their goals. In this article, we present the initial process of developing a safety, quality and utilisation rate dashboard ('clinical dashboard') based on a selection of data routinely reported to executive boards and top-level leaders in Norwegian specialist healthcare.

methodsWe used a modified version of Wennberg's categorisation of healthcare delivery to develop the dashboard, focusing on variation in (1) effective care and patient safety and (2) preference-sensitive and supply-sensitive care.

resultsEffective care and patient safety are monitored with outcome measures such as 30-day mortality after hospital admission and 5-year cancer survival, whereas utilisation rates for procedures selected on cost and volume are used to follow variations in preference-sensitive and supply-sensitive care.

conclusionWe argue that selecting quality indicators of patient safety, quality and utilisation rates and presenting them in a dashboard may help executive hospital boards and top-level leaders to focus on unwarranted variation.

Indexed as

LeadershipBenchmarkingDashboard SystemsGoverning BoardHospital AdministratorsHumansNorwayPatient SafetyQuality Indicators, Health Caremanagementunwarranted variationvariation

Identifiers

PMID38053259
PMCPMC12038096
OpenAlexW4388938635

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC
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Registered trials

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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.