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Report cards or instrument panels: who needs what?
E C Nelson1, P B Batalden, S K Plume
1Hitchcock Clinic, Lebanon, NH 03756-0001, USA.
The Joint Commission Journal on Quality Improvement
|April 1, 1995
Summary
Healthcare report cards provide comparative quality and cost data. Instrument panels offer a more actionable approach, improving data accuracy and utility for providers and patients.
Area of Science:
- Health Services Research
- Healthcare Management
Background:
- Healthcare report cards address consumer demand for quality and cost transparency.
- Providers express concerns regarding data validity and prudent use in report cards.
- Instrument panels are proposed as a more dynamic, decision-oriented alternative to static report cards.
Purpose of the Study:
- To introduce and describe the concept of instrument panels in healthcare.
- To present examples of instrument panel implementation in a large integrated health system.
Main Methods:
- Described three types of instrument panels developed within the Dartmouth-Hitchcock health care system.
- Highlighted the scale of operations for each described entity: a large group practice, a tertiary hospital, and a prepaid health plan.
Main Results:
- The Dartmouth-Hitchcock system implemented instrument panels across diverse healthcare settings.
- Examples included a 450-physician group practice, a large tertiary hospital, and a health plan with 120,000 members.
Conclusions:
- Integrating instrument panel data collection systems with report cards enhances accuracy.
- This integration reduces costs and increases the overall utility of data for providers and consumers.
- Instrument panels offer an efficient method for improving healthcare quality and cost information.