HIMSS: Clinical transformation requires better tools
Provider organizations have a leadership commitment to create an environment that fosters clinical transformation, but need to improve the information capabilities and human resources to put that strategy into operation, according to a new study from the Healthcare Information & Management Systems Society (HIMSS).
Eighty-six percent of respondents indicated that their organization either has a clinical transformation team in place or is developing such a team, HIMSS, of Chicago, noted. “Despite a high level of executive support, there are numerous improvements that organizations can take to enhance their ability to use clinical and financial data to improve patient outcomes.
“For instance, data [are] not always available in a way that facilitates easy access and reporting. Only 35 percent of respondents presently import data into a data warehouse and nearly half of respondents noted that they rely on interfaces to assist with integration.”
A total of 175 responses were received via the internet between March 10 and April 15 for the “2011 HIMSS Clinical Transformation Survey.” Respondents assessed the degree of clinical transformation within their organizations in terms of measurement, governance and leadership, organizational behavior and data access.
Just over 49 percent are focused on ensuring the organization has a fully operational EHR in place, according to the report. The next-largest response was “linking clinical systems with quality measures and outcomes,” at 12.57 percent.
Respondents are using a variety of sources to measure clinical quality, the report noted. The most widespread method deployed for measuring clinical quality is the use of hand-collected data and chart reviews. This method was identified by 79 percent of respondents.
Seventy-seven percent noted that their organization has deployed benchmarking metrics to compare against other organizations. About two-thirds of respondents said regional/national databases are used for measuring clinical quality. Less frequently used, but still widespread, are business intelligence tools (58 percent) and electronic data warehouse platforms (55 percent), according to the survey.
Seventy-eight percent of respondents share clinical data with clinical executives through a scorecard and/or dashboard; 69 percent share financial data through a scorecard/dashboard. Seventy-eight percent of respondents reported they have a formal leadership team that addresses clinical transformation.
“Despite organizational support for clinical transformation, there are gaps and barriers to being able to accomplish goals and objectives in this area,” the report noted. “For instance, nearly three-quarters of respondents noted that they needed additional IT resources in order to report on quality measures. This was closely followed by additional staff (61 percent) and more money (58 percent). Only 4 percent of respondents indicated that they don’t need additional resources.”
In addition, two-thirds of respondents directly noted that while they had staff qualified to report on quality measures, staff simply did not have the time needed to do everything that was necessary to create these reports, the HIMSS survey stated.
The report included recommendations for enhancing organizations' ability to use clinical and financial data to improve patient outcomes:
The survey was sponsored by McKesson.
Eighty-six percent of respondents indicated that their organization either has a clinical transformation team in place or is developing such a team, HIMSS, of Chicago, noted. “Despite a high level of executive support, there are numerous improvements that organizations can take to enhance their ability to use clinical and financial data to improve patient outcomes.
“For instance, data [are] not always available in a way that facilitates easy access and reporting. Only 35 percent of respondents presently import data into a data warehouse and nearly half of respondents noted that they rely on interfaces to assist with integration.”
A total of 175 responses were received via the internet between March 10 and April 15 for the “2011 HIMSS Clinical Transformation Survey.” Respondents assessed the degree of clinical transformation within their organizations in terms of measurement, governance and leadership, organizational behavior and data access.
Just over 49 percent are focused on ensuring the organization has a fully operational EHR in place, according to the report. The next-largest response was “linking clinical systems with quality measures and outcomes,” at 12.57 percent.
Respondents are using a variety of sources to measure clinical quality, the report noted. The most widespread method deployed for measuring clinical quality is the use of hand-collected data and chart reviews. This method was identified by 79 percent of respondents.
Seventy-seven percent noted that their organization has deployed benchmarking metrics to compare against other organizations. About two-thirds of respondents said regional/national databases are used for measuring clinical quality. Less frequently used, but still widespread, are business intelligence tools (58 percent) and electronic data warehouse platforms (55 percent), according to the survey.
Seventy-eight percent of respondents share clinical data with clinical executives through a scorecard and/or dashboard; 69 percent share financial data through a scorecard/dashboard. Seventy-eight percent of respondents reported they have a formal leadership team that addresses clinical transformation.
“Despite organizational support for clinical transformation, there are gaps and barriers to being able to accomplish goals and objectives in this area,” the report noted. “For instance, nearly three-quarters of respondents noted that they needed additional IT resources in order to report on quality measures. This was closely followed by additional staff (61 percent) and more money (58 percent). Only 4 percent of respondents indicated that they don’t need additional resources.”
In addition, two-thirds of respondents directly noted that while they had staff qualified to report on quality measures, staff simply did not have the time needed to do everything that was necessary to create these reports, the HIMSS survey stated.
The report included recommendations for enhancing organizations' ability to use clinical and financial data to improve patient outcomes:
- Organizations need to have a clinical transformation team in place to evaluate potential improvements in care delivery;
- Data must be captured and available in a way that promotes analysis; and
- Many organizations continue to rely on manual processes to analyze data.
The survey was sponsored by McKesson.