Analytics are the heart of data-driven continuous improvement and performance excellence initiatives at Connecticut Children's Medical Center in Hartford. “Reporting, dashboards and registries permit us to examine relationships between process and outcome. We can also identify and address opportunities to achieve operational efficiency. Patient throughput, readmissions, timely discharge, clinical documentation improvement and charge capture have all benefited from our ability to benchmark and track key performance indicators,” says Richelle deMayo, M.D., chief medical information officer.

Analytics-informed solutions have resulted in a timely, positive impact on physician-patient engagement. Clinical decision-support tools (alerts, reminders, order sets, protocols, embedded pointers to additional information) linked with analytics (reports, dashboards) drive improvement in targeted areas. Clinical managers closely monitor the use of more than 30 evidence-based, electronic clinical pathways. Clinical and business intelligence tools track patient and provider-level metrics and outcomes.

Through electronic health record redesign and the addition of technology tools based on workflow needs, clinical informatics achieved an 11 percent reduction in the average physician time spent documenting ambulatory care visits. These efficiency gains were accompanied by a more than 50 percent improvement in physician satisfaction with the content of their notes. Connecticut Children's was able to streamline medication ordering and administration, reducing by 37 percent alerts that were ineffective and unnecessary, distracting staff and consuming their time.

Checklist

  • Develop reporting tools and dashboards for performance improvement.
  • Use clinical and business intelligence tools to track patient and provider-level metrics and outcomes.
  • Review scorecards regularly by all clinical managers, directors and vice presidents.
  • Use scorecards for early detection of potential problems and care redesign.
  • Redesign EHRs to remove features with questionable value that distract and detract from clinician-patient interaction.