I found the presentation very informative. I liked the definitions and distinctions that the presenter made for Efficacy, Effectiveness and Efficiency.

Also, the subtle differences between Quality Control, Quality Improvement and Quality Assurance were teased out and were very helpful.

Thanks

Nizar Wehbi

How do your organizations measure the parameters used in your performance improvement and quality efforts?

We don't have an emr and have alot of antiquated systems that don't necessarily coordinate. I think data collection is very difficult for us and makes it hard to target certain areas of improvement as we can't back up what we know anecdotally with data.

We do have Care Science/Premier to help risk adjust data but that is also a 3-6 month lag in this data and it's black box methodology raises acceptance issues among practitioners.

Do people have the same issues? For those who have good systems in place, does that help with data collection for improvement efforts? Or does the collection system not have an effect?

I've seen the scorecards presented at many committees. But I rarely see or hear of it being brought down in the trenches. I don't think the physicians or case managers or nurses necessarily get the message/data/information that is presented at a higher level. I think they miss the information and feedback thus rendering this tool less effective than it might be.

Have people found the same? Who has seen better success with this tool and how were you able to achieve it and make it visible in your organization?

Have any of your instititutions sought/acheived Magnet status for nursing?

Have any applied for the Baldridge award-even if only as an exercise?