Since 2001, the Hospital Report Research Collaborative has partnered with other leading edge organizations to provide resources and reports in addition to the Hospital Report series for hospitals to use for performance management and quality improvement.
The resources and reports can be downloaded by clicking on the subject of interest below.
Access to Diagnostic Technologies and Surgical Care in Ontario Acute Care Hospitals, 2006
Building on provincial initiatives, in 2005, the Hospital Report Research Collaborative chose to explore the development and implementation of a set of indicators to monitor how hospitals perform in the area of access to care. This process was designed to supplement access-related research initiatives already underway in the province. At its broadest level, measuring access captures the degree to which those seeking care receive health services in a timely and equitable fashion. Access measurement serves strategic goals of performance improvement and also fulfills important equity objectives. Using established Hospital Report processes and keeping in mind the reporting processes being pursued at the provincial level, new access indicators were identified that focused on structural and management indicators associated with more timely access to priority clinical services and diagnostic technologies. Analysis of the results of the SIC survey revealed significant interpretation issues. Although there are no access indicators reported in the 2006 Acute Care Report, the findings from this investigation should be of interest to investigators researching issues of access to care more broadly and are therefore discussed in this report in a summary fashion. Click here to view the report.
New Measures of Ambulatory Care Performance in Ontario: Preliminary System Snapshot, 2006
Ambulatory care is an essential and growing component of hospital care and as such, interest in accountability and performance measurement within the area of hospital-based ambulatory care is growing. In previous Hospital Reports, Emergency Department Care and Day Surgery were reported but this year, the development of indicators in the more general area of ambulatory care was proposed in response to feedback from stakeholders at successive Hospital Report regional information sessions.
The nature and scope of ambulatory care clinic services vary considerably from hospital to hospital on account of variations in perceived patient and community needs and the extent to which various types of clinics located throughout a hospital are classified as ambulatory care. Accordingly, identifying and prioritizing ambulatory care performance indicators relevant to most or all Ontario hospitals was challenging. The research team tried to address this challenge by consulting with hospital managers in Ontario to develop and narrow the definition and scope of the investigation. Additionally, with the use of advisory panels, we identified indicators in all four quadrants using established Hospital Report processes. Although only three indicators are reported within the Acute Care 2006 report in two quadrants (system integration and change and clinical utilization and outcomes), this report focuses on the development process, the reasons for reporting only a few indicators, and considerations for future reporting initiatives. Click here to view the report.
HRRC External Review
In 2005, the HRRC commissioned Dr. Gwyn Bevan and Dr. David Spiegelhalter, two distinguished academics with extensive experience in health system performance measurement and reporting, to provide an independent assessment of the work done by the HRRC and to make recommendations regarding future efforts and research priorities.
The review provides an assessment of the HRRC's efforts and will assist the HRRC in planning for a transition to a new vision for a Health System Performance Research Collaborative. Specifically, it highlights the importance of improved targeting of Hospital Report information to different audiences, bringing information from multiple reports together on an institutional basis, as well as development and advice on measures proposed for accountability purposes.
Click here to view the full report. Click here to view the Executive Summary.
Aligning Performance Management with Corporate Strategy: A Toolkit for Ontario's Hospitals
The Hospital Report Research Collaborative has developed a Strategy Toolkit in response to requests from a number of Ontario hospitals to assist with the articulation of strategy, the development of strategy maps, and the link between these strategies and quality improvement at their organizations.
The purpose of this toolkit is to support organizations to progress from strategic planning to performance measurement and management. The steps outlined in this document will help manage the strategic priorities of your organization.
While the business world has focused on strategy for many years, its use in healthcare to meet patient needs and manage overall performance is a more recent phenomenon. An organization's strategy is an articulation of its high level plans designed to provide value to patients and may distinguish the organization from its peers. Once strategic goals are articulated, the balanced scorecard provides a framework that allows an organization to translate its strategy into terms that everyone in the organization understands, making it relevant to their daily activities.
Many organizations have engaged in strategic planning for years, and have fully developed mission, vision and value statements. However, given the relatively recent introduction of strategy into performance management in healthcare, many healthcare organizations have not necessarily included strategic goals or strategy maps in their performance management processes. The introduction of this key step facilitates the development of organizational objectives, and then the selection of measures to monitor progress against these objectives. The articulation of strategy provides the opportunity to align performance management activities with organizational priorities.
Click here to view the toolkit. Click here to view the worksheets.