By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
  • Health
    • Mental Health
    Health
    Healthcare organizations are operating on slimmer profit margins than ever. One report in August showed that they are even lower than the beginning of the…
    Show More
    Top News
    physical health
    5 Ways Playing Games Can Improve Neural and Physical Health
    September 9, 2022
    Reasons For Hair Loss and Its Treatment
    Reasons For Hair Loss and Its Treatment
    February 16, 2022
    healthcare organization
    5 Actionable Strategies For Healthcare Organizations
    August 15, 2022
    Latest News
    Grounded Healing: A Natural Ally for Sustainable Healthcare Systems
    May 16, 2025
    Learn how to Renew your Medical Card in West Virginia
    May 16, 2025
    Choosing the Right Supplement Manufacturer for Your Brand
    May 1, 2025
    Engineering Temporary Hospitals for Extreme Weather
    April 24, 2025
  • Policy and Law
    • Global Healthcare
    • Medical Ethics
    Policy and Law
    Get the latest updates about Insurance policies and Laws in the Healthcare industry for different geographical locations.
    Show More
    Top News
    email marketing in healthcare
    Harnessing the Power of Email Marketing in Healthcare
    October 26, 2023
    healthcare claims
    The Role of Communication in Resolving Complex Workers’ Compensation Claims in Healthcare Settings
    September 22, 2024
    Wounds and Wisdom: What Motorcycle Accidents Teach Us About Health and Healing
    Wounds and Wisdom: What Motorcycle Accidents Teach Us About Health and Healing
    February 12, 2025
    Latest News
    Building Smarter Care Teams: Aligning Roles, Structure, and Clinical Expertise
    May 18, 2025
    The Critical Role of Healthcare in Personal Injury Recovery: A Comprehensive Guide for Victims
    May 14, 2025
    The Backbone of Successful Trials: Clinical Data Management
    April 28, 2025
    Advancing Your Healthcare Career through Education and Specialization
    April 16, 2025
  • Medical Innovations
  • News
  • Wellness
  • Tech
Search
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Reading: Collaborative Metrics in Healthcare
Share
Notification Show More
Font ResizerAa
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
Font ResizerAa
Search
Follow US
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Health Works Collective > Business > Hospital Administration > Collaborative Metrics in Healthcare
BusinessHospital Administration

Collaborative Metrics in Healthcare

Ken Cohn
Last updated: October 2, 2014 8:00 am
Ken Cohn
Share
5 Min Read
collaborative metrics in healthcare
SHARE

I entitled this post “Collaborative Metrics,” because, during my ACHE seminar, Practical Strategies for Engaging Physicians, a healthcare executive said, “If we convert from fee-for-service too soon, we stand to lose millions of dollars. Help us figure out when to flip the switch.” Not feeling that I had the wisdom to be a market timer, I asked other hospital executives what metrics should we use as we move from volume- to more value-based care.

Contents
Collaborative Metrics: Improved Care ExperienceCollaborative Metrics: Population HealthCollaborative Metrics: Decreased CostsCollaborative Metrics: Conclusion

I entitled this post “Collaborative Metrics,” because, during my ACHE seminar, Practical Strategies for Engaging Physicians, a healthcare executive said, “If we convert from fee-for-service too soon, we stand to lose millions of dollars. Help us figure out when to flip the switch.” Not feeling that I had the wisdom to be a market timer, I asked other hospital executives what metrics should we use as we move from volume- to more value-based care. We agreed that, since we had multiple targets to hit at the same time, using the IHI Triple Aim provided a useful overarching framework.

collaborative metrics in healthcare

Collaborative Metrics: Improved Care Experience

HCAHPS survey questions have empowered patients and encouraged physicians and nurses to pay attention to how well we are anticipating and meeting patients’ needs. At the same time, we must pay attention to disease-based metrics for quality, which take into account the appropriateness as well as the execution of care, as practiced at Virginia Mason. Hospital-acquired infections, falls, readmissions, and mortality, when shared with the public, can encourage transparency and healthy competition among providers.  I hope that we can learn from near misses to the extent that we report them without blame, similar to commercial aviation.

More Read

patient data
The Importance of Keeping Patient Information Secure
Developing Clinical Pathways
How to Build a Better Hospital Blog
Attracting New Patients to Your Medical Practice
How to Keep Your Medical Staff Focused During Work

Collaborative Metrics: Population Health

It is here where programs such as smoking cessation, exercise and obesity counseling, cancer screening, and diabetes and hypertension testing and therapy come to the forefront. So do number of covered lives, leakage of referrals outside the system, percentage of patients in capitated coverage and narrow networks, pay for performance incentives, and emergency room use.

Collaborative Metrics: Decreased Costs

If we believe that the role of 21st Century medicine is keeping patient populations well, then we must regard hospital admissions as a cost, which puts hospital administrators in the paradox of being seen as cost centers at the same time that they are called upon to finance large expenditures, such as electronic health records. As I wrote in Collaborative Learning, paradoxes cause less anxiety when viewed as processes to explore rather than problems to solve. Collins and Porra in “Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies”quoted F. Scott Fitzgerald, “The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function.” Clearly, we will still need to measure and act on parameters such as days cash on hand, operating margin, and cost per case as we progress.

Collaborative Metrics: Conclusion

Admitting uncertainty allows us to form new alliances, of which I hope physicians will play a role. The borders between providing care and operations and finance are blurring, which requires hospital administrators and physicians to unite around what attracted them to healthcare careers in the first place: the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of patients and families in their communities.

As always, I welcome your input to improve healthcare collaboration where you work.  Please send me your comments and suggestions for improvement.

© 2014, all rights reserved

Disclosure:
I have not received any compensation for writing this content.  I have no material connection to the brands, topics and/or products that are mentioned herein.

Metrics / shutterstock

TAGGED:metrics
Share This Article
Facebook Copy Link Print
Share

Stay Connected

1.5kFollowersLike
4.5kFollowersFollow
2.8kFollowersPin
136kSubscribersSubscribe

Latest News

Clinical Expertise
Building Smarter Care Teams: Aligning Roles, Structure, and Clinical Expertise
Health care
May 18, 2025
Grounded Healing: A Natural Ally for Sustainable Healthcare Systems
Grounded Healing: A Natural Ally for Sustainable Healthcare Systems
Health
May 15, 2025
Learn how to Renew your Medical Card in West Virginia
Learn how to Renew your Medical Card in West Virginia
Health
May 15, 2025
Dr. Klaus Rentrop Shares Acute Myocardial Infarction heart treatment
Dr. Klaus Rentrop Shares Acute Myocardial Infarction
Cardiology
May 13, 2025

You Might also Like

Lessons from the Anthem Breach

February 12, 2015

Off-Label Drug Promotion and the First Amendment

November 4, 2011
Hospital Marketing online
BusinessFinanceHealth ReformPolicy & LawPublic Health

Creating a Realistic Hospital Marketing Plan

May 1, 2014

Conflicts of Interest in Guideline Development: a Dirty Little Secret

March 30, 2011
Subscribe
Subscribe to our newsletter to get our newest articles instantly!
Follow US
© 2008-2025 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Username or Email Address
Password

Lost your password?