Discussion:
Proving effectiveness is never easy, particularly for healthcare organizations. Yet patients, consumers, insurers, government and the public all want to hold HCOs accountable. They look for reliable performance measures not only to continue supporting an organization, but for funding and accreditation purposes as well. Performance measures offer many uses:
• Tracking performance over time
• Providing information for external and internal sources
• Identifying areas for improvement
• Facilitating comparisons of programs or facilities
• Determining priorities for health initiatives