A dashboard metric in healthcare refers to a distinct performance measurement applied to monitor, analyze and optimize all pertinent healthcare processes to improve patient satisfaction. Dashboard metrics connected with benchmarks set by federal healthcare laws include the Average Hospital Stay, which evaluates the duration patients are spending in the inpatient, and the Treatment Costs metric, which estimates how much a patient costs to the hospital (AHRQ, 2020). Additionally, the Hospital Readmission Rates metric monitors the number of patients returning. The Patient Wait Time metric tracks waiting times to enhance patient satisfaction, and the Patient Satisfaction metric examines patient satisfaction in detail. Furthermore, the metric on Staff-to-Patient Ratio makes sure that a facility has adequate staff to attend to patients, whereas the Canceled/missed appointments metric monitors patients’ appointments (AHRQ, 2020). Patient Safety metric prevents incidents in the hospital while ER Wait Time tracks rush hours in a hospital’s emergency room. Lastly, the Costs by Payer metric identifies the health insurance type of patients.
The metrics are established by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) through the Network of Patient Safety Databases (NPSD). NPSD was created to present an interactive, evidence-based management resource for health providers, Patient Safety Organizations, and others (AHRQ, 2020). The NPSD is implemented by the AHRQ, the lead agency for patient safety.
Shortfalls identified in our organizational performance with respect to the dashboard metrics include treatment costs, wherein patient’s inpatient and outpatient costs have been increasingly on the high end for the past three years. Patients with chronic illnesses have the highest treatment costs. There is also a shortfall in the hospital readmission rates, with about 18% of patients being readmitted within six months. Patients with high readmission rates include those aged 65 and older with chronic conditions such as cancers, cardiovascular diseases, and diabetes. Furthermore, the metric on staff-to-patient ratio was not met primarily on the nurse-to-patient ratio, with most of the nursing units not meeting the recommended ratio.
Gaps were identified in the organization’s information on patient satisfaction, canceled/missed appointments, and ER wait times. The organization has not been keen on evaluating patients’ satisfaction with care which affected the evaluation process. Besides, missed appointments are not recorded, and the ER wait times have not been assessed. Availability of information on the three metrics could have significantly improved my evaluation of dashboard metrics.
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