6 Metrics to Look at When Benchmarking in the Healthcare Industry

In the healthcare space, there are many different types of organizations: private hospitals, for-profit hospitals, community hospitals, research organizations, policy organizations, and many others. And, naturally, most want to compare themselves to a healthcare organization that is similar to their own—but that’s not as simple as it sounds.

Healthcare organizations have to keep a number of things in mind when selecting organizations to benchmark against:

1. Type and focus. Of course, if your hospital primarily serves children, you’ll want to benchmark against other children's hospitals across the nation. And because many of these organizations don’t compete with each other, those in leadership tend to be more willing to share key measures. But keep in mind that two children’s hospitals may have very different focuses—for example, one may be focused on critical care and another on research. In this case, their differences are more noteworthy than their similarities as far as benchmarks are concerned.

2. Geographic regions. Massachusetts has state-mandated healthcare that served as the model for the Affordable Care Act. As a result, if a healthcare organization in Massachusetts examined what percentage of its patients were insured, that number would likely look very different than that of a hospital in Georgia.

3. Regulatory climate. For example, if you’re examining reimbursable rates, you may want to focus on other organizations in the same regulatory environment.

4. Weather and other miscellaneous conditions. The response times of a hospital in Montana (which faces cold temperatures, ice, and snow in the winter) are likely different than those of a hospital in Arizona. Additionally, the type of care provided may differ based on climate and conditions.

5. Demographic climate. In Florida, for example, you may have more people dying of heart disease because you have an older population compared to Colorado. This demographic difference may affect healthcare metrics with emergency response, the number of people who survive ambulatory calls, and more.

The important thing to remember is that you’re not going to get the same benchmarks from the same types of organizations. Every organization has a different strategy, and the healthcare metrics that are tied to that strategy are unique as well. For that reason, it’s critical to take your own measures into account when benchmarking. Below, we’ll walk through the process of translating your measures into benchmarks—and how to keep the aforementioned elements in mind as you do so.

Examples Of Benchmarking In Healthcare

Those in healthcare organization leadership must figure out which healthcare metrics are important to them and determine benchmarks for those measures. If you’re simply looking for benchmarks for the sake of comparison, you may be benchmarking against something that isn’t important or related to your strategy.

The following are examples of measures and how they might impact your healthcare benchmarking.

Patient Wait Time

If your clinic has a lot of competition in your local geography, you can benchmark against the competition to see who has to wait longer at the emergency room. You may also be looking at wait times for scheduled appointments; local comparisons are great benchmarks for these items.

Percentage Of Patients With Insurance

In healthcare benchmarking the percentage of patients who are insured, you’d want to look for best practices in the same regulatory climate—possibly in the same state or region. You also should consider why you are benchmarking this information. This measure might inform your revenue per patient or your reimbursement rates.

Number Of Media Mentions

Consider this: If you’re part of a research hospital that wants to raise a lot of funding, your communication best practices will be much different than if you wanted to raise awareness for treatment options at your healthcare center. In other words, communication strategies between a research hospital and a for-profit, care-centered hospital are likely very different, so you’d want to benchmark against organizations that leverage communication in the same way you do. It’s worth noting that this could be done nationwide with similar healthcare groups.

Number Of Partnerships With Advocacy Groups

This metric counts the number of relationships established with other organizations because a high number of partnerships can increase the impact of your campaigns and policy events. If you have a high or low number of partnerships, you would want to benchmark against other organizations that have a similar strategy.

Childhood Immunizations Or Childhood Obesity

If your organization focuses on healthcare education, you’d want to compare against healthcare organizations that do the same—like a state department of health. But if you focus on care (in a clinical setting, for example) you’d want to benchmark against other hospitals in a similar demographic. Therefore, when it comes to childhood immunization or childhood obesity, you would want to consider the percentage of your community with a certain level of education. Areas with similar levels of education would serve as your benchmarks.

Patient Follow-Up

This metric measures the number of patients who, after a visit to the facility, receive follow-up that involves a physician, a nurse, or another staff member asking about the visit and the patient’s improvements. If your organization is in a low-income or underserved community, previous patients may have a more difficult time coming back in for a follow-up. If this is the case in your community, you’d want to benchmark against an area with similar demographics. In theory, following up with your patients could greatly reduce readmittance—so be sure to consider this link.

FAQ:

How does benchmarking help a business?

Benchmarking helps a business in several ways:

- Performance Comparison: It allows businesses to compare their performance against industry leaders or competitors.
- Identifying Best Practices: Benchmarking helps identify best practices and processes that can be adopted to improve efficiency and effectiveness.
- Setting Goals: It provides benchmarks against which to set realistic and achievable performance goals.
-Improvement Initiatives: It guides improvement initiatives by highlighting areas where performance lags behind peers.

How is benchmarking used to improve quality?

Benchmarking improves quality by:

- Learning from Leaders: Studying industry leaders helps businesses understand what drives superior quality in products, services, or processes.
- Adopting Best Practices: Implementing best practices identified through benchmarking can enhance quality standards.
- Continuous Improvement: Benchmarking encourages a culture of continuous improvement by setting higher standards based on industry benchmarks.

How do you measure strategic alignment?

Measuring strategic alignment involves:

- Clarifying Objectives: Clearly defining organizational goals and strategies.
- Assessing Execution: Evaluating how well actions and initiatives align with strategic goals.
- Feedback Mechanisms: Implementing feedback loops to monitor progress and make adjustments as needed.
- Performance Metrics: Using performance metrics and KPIs to track alignment and effectiveness of strategic initiatives.

Why is benchmarking important in healthcare?

Benchmarking is crucial in healthcare for several reasons:

- Improving Patient Care: It helps identify and adopt best practices that lead to better patient outcomes and care delivery.
- Cost Efficiency: Benchmarking allows healthcare providers to compare costs and operational efficiency with peers, leading to cost savings.
- Quality Improvement: By benchmarking against top performers, healthcare organizations can enhance the quality and safety of care.
- Strategic Decision Making: It provides data-driven insights for strategic decision making, such as resource allocation and service improvements.