Harvard researchers identify 5 ways hospital execs can measure outcomes

Through their research and work with healthcare executives, three members of Harvard University’s International Consortium for Health Outcomes Measurement (ICHOM) have identified five ways hospital leaders can track their performance and measure outcomes.

The ideas were published online in the Harvard Business Review on Dec. 3.

Here is the list compiled by Jacob Lippa, Claude Pinnock and Jessica Aisenbrey, all of whom work for ICHOM:

  1. Find the believers – They suggest identifying clinicians who are supportive of measuring outcomes and working with them to spread the word about the positive aspects of measurement.
  2. Organize a cross-functional team with appropriate governance – They recommend appointing a project leader to direct a team that includes people representing a broad range of functions.
  3. Invest time and resources – They suggest speaking with senior leaders about the importance of committing resources that may be a drain financially and from a time standpoint in the early stages but that will pay off in the long-term.
  4. Celebrate progress along the way – They recommend recognizing and celebrating successes but also understanding it takes a long time and a lot of hard work to build successful outcomes measurement programs.
  5. Use early successes to scale and spread – They suggest sharing success stories among physicians to help them understand the programs are working and are on the right track to sustained success.
Tim Casey,

Executive Editor

Tim Casey joined TriMed Media Group in 2015 as Executive Editor. For the previous four years, he worked as an editor and writer for HMP Communications, primarily focused on covering managed care issues and reporting from medical and health care conferences. He was also a staff reporter at the Sacramento Bee for more than four years covering professional, college and high school sports. He earned his undergraduate degree in psychology from the University of Notre Dame and his MBA degree from Georgetown University.

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