Exploring the Interplay Between Healthcare Quality and Economic Viability Through Massive Data Analysis-Driven...

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Management
• Health Economics
• Data Science in Healthcare

Background:

• Hospital management necessitates integrating quality and economic metrics for efficiency.
• Limited evidence exists on hospital KPIs' link to financial outcomes, especially in private healthcare.
• This study addresses the gap by analyzing KPIs in a Spanish private hospital network.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine the relationships between hospital KPIs and financial metrics (Sales, EBITDA).
• To investigate these relationships within a Spanish private multi-hospital network.
• To identify potential predictive value of KPIs for financial performance.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective, observational, multi-center study of 47 KPIs from 14 hospitals.
• Utilized Self-Organizing Maps (SOM), an unsupervised neural network, for pattern identification.
• Analyzed temporal dependencies with financial outcomes at contemporaneous, 3-month, and 6-month horizons.

Main Results:

• SOM identified six distinct, interconnected KPI clusters.
• Immediate financial performance (Sales, EBITDA) linked to activity and occupancy.
• Quality KPIs (patient satisfaction, accessibility) influenced financial outcomes at 3- and 6-month horizons.

Conclusions:

• SOM effectively revealed complex, nonlinear relationships between KPIs and financial metrics.
• An operational framework was established linking KPIs to financial outcomes in private hospitals.
• Findings support KPI use for forecasting and strategic planning in healthcare.