Clinical practice benchmarking: implications for tissue viability

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Management
• Quality Improvement
• Clinical Practice

Background:

• Healthcare provision often exhibits inequities, described as a 'lottery'.
• The Department of Health (DoH) has promoted quality assessment and continuous quality improvement to address disparities.
• Clinical benchmarking is advocated as a tool to support these quality initiatives.

Purpose of the Study:

• To provide an overview of the clinical benchmarking process.
• To focus specifically on the application of benchmarking to pressure ulcer management.
• To examine the relationship between clinical benchmarking implementation and specialist practice characteristics.

Main Methods:

• Review of the clinical benchmarking process.
• Focus on the pressure ulcer element within benchmarking.
• Analysis of the effects on an established tissue viability service.

Main Results:

• Benchmarking offers a structured approach to quality assessment in healthcare.
• Implementing benchmarking for pressure ulcers highlights areas for service improvement.
• The process appears to align with and potentially enhance specialist practice in tissue viability.

Conclusions:

• Clinical benchmarking is a valuable strategy for improving healthcare equity and quality.
• The application of benchmarking to pressure ulcer care can lead to significant service enhancements.
• Benchmarking supports the development and effectiveness of specialist tissue viability services.