Statistics & numerical data
June 22, 2012
Excerpt:
In this commentary, we hope to stimulate innovation in the field of health care performance measurement. We will discuss several considerations regarding the use of three quality indicators that are commonly used to improve accountability in the Canadian context. Specifically, we will focus on the hospital standardized mortality ratio (HSMR), all-cause urgent readmissions, and emergency department length of stay (ED-LOS; see Textbox 1). We discuss “the good,” “the bad,” and “the ugly” to illustrate both positive and negative consequences related to measurement. We conclude with specific recommendations regarding investments to improve quality measurement.
Posted in Journal Articles, READ Portal | Tagged with Benchmarking, Canada, Indicators, Mortality rates, Program evaluation, Statistics & numerical data | No Comments
June 12, 2012
Abstract:
Although the general hospital remains an important place for stabilizing crises, most services for mental illnesses are provided in outpatient/community settings. In the absence of comprehensive data at the community level, data that are routinely collected from general hospitals can provide insights on the performance of mental health services for people living with mental illness or poor mental health. This article describes three new indicators that provide a snapshot on the performance of the mental health system in Canada: self-injury hospitalization rate, 30-day readmission rate for mental illness and percentage of patients with repeat hospitalizations for mental illness. Findings suggest a need for the early detection and treatment of mental illnesses and for optimal transitions between general hospitals and community services.
Posted in Journal Articles, READ Portal | Tagged with Canada, Mental health, Statistics & numerical data | No Comments
May 24, 2012
“The patient-centered medical home has emerged as a promising solution to address the significant fragmentation, poor quality, and high costs that afflict the U.S. health care system. The medical home model includes core components of primary and patient-centered care, recent innovations in practice redesign and health information technology, and changes to the way practices and providers are paid. There are initiatives across the country testing the promise of the medical home model. However, to properly evaluate and compare results that will aid in the implementation of these and other initiatives, researchers need a standard set of core measures. This brief describes the process and recommendations of more than 75 researchers who came together to identify a core set of standardized measures to evaluate the patient-centered medical home. It focuses on two domains of medical home outcomes: cost/utilization and clinical quality.”
Posted in READ Portal, Reports & Papers | Tagged with Indicators, Patient-centered care, Quality assessment, Statistics & numerical data | No Comments
May 15, 2012
The aim of this guide is to encourage users of international comparisons of health and health care data to consider some of the factors that can influence variation between countries, and to assist them in interpreting the results. Drawing on a range of examples—using health and health care data for Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries—this guide highlights the types of question to consider about data quality, the basis for country selection and the techniques used to present the results. It is a general guide, and considering each of the factors presented here may not always be possible.
Posted in READ Portal, Reports & Papers, Uncategorized | Tagged with Benchmarking, Indicators, Statistics & numerical data | No Comments
May 4, 2012
“Health data has great value: it helps make the system more accountable, guides best practices for delivering better and safer care and, ultimately, can help improve the health of Canadians. Health data is important to a variety of stakeholders ranging from policy-makers to users of health care systems—the general public. The purpose of this publication is to provide an overview of health care use and resource demands. As questions rise about the sustainability of our health care systems in Canada, it is important to identify what our uses and needs are. By analyzing current health care data, we can ensure resources are being used in the best way possible.”
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April 2, 2012
“ISSUE: Are there differences between Ontario’s primary care models in who they serve and how often their patients/clients go to the emergency department (ED)?
STUDY: This study examined patients/clients enrolled in: Community Health Centres (CHCs, a salaried model), Family Health Groups (FHGs, a blended fee-for-service model), Family Health Networks (FHNs, a blended capitation model), Family Health Organizations (FHOs, a blended capitation model), Family Health Teams (FHTs, an interprofessional team model composed of FHNs and FHOs), ‘Other’ smaller models combined, as well as those who did not belong to a model. Electronic record encounter data (for CHCs) and routinely collected health care administrative data were used to examine sociodemographic composition, patterns of morbidity and comorbidity (case mix) and ED use. ED visits rates were adjusted to account for differences in location and patient/client characteristics.
KEY FINDINGS
- Compared with the Ontario population, CHCs served populations that were from lower income neighbourhoods, had higher proportions of newcomers and those on social assistance, had more severe mental illness and chronic health conditions, and had higher morbidity and comorbidity. In both urban and rural areas, CHCs had ED visit rates that were considerably lower than expected.
- FHGs and ‘Other’ models had sociodemographic and morbidity profiles very similar to those of Ontario as a whole, but FHGs had a higher proportion of newcomers, likely reflecting their more urban location. Both urban and rural FHGs and ‘Other’ models had lower than expected ED visits.
- FHNs and FHTs had a large rural profile, while FHOs were similar to Ontario overall. Compared with the Ontario population, patients in all three models were from higher income neighbourhoods, were much less likely to be newcomers, and less likely to use the health system or have high comorbidity. ED visits were higher than expected in all three models.
- Those who did not belong to one of the models of care studied were more likely to be male, younger, make less use of the health system and have lower morbidity and comorbidity than those enrolled in a model of care. They had more ED visits than expected.”
Posted in READ Portal, Reports & Papers | Tagged with Canada, Emergency service, Indicators, Statistics & numerical data | No Comments
March 28, 2012
“This report presents key findings from the 2010 cycle of (The Health Behaviour in School-aged Children study [HSBC]). Current priorities for the public health system in Canada are particularly emphasized. As the HBSC study has traditionally focused upon the importance of social settings and conditions as potential determinants of health, this focus continues in the current report. In addition, this report examines the mental health of young Canadians as a primary theme.
In addition to our analysis of survey results from over 26,000 students, this report was informed by findings from a national youth engagement workshop. The purpose of this workshop was to obtain insights from a cross-section of young Canadians with respect to the key mental health findings. Efforts made to integrate the perspectives of young people directly into this report were driven by a philosophy that the opinions and insights of youth matter and the Federal Government’s role in supporting youth engagement through its committment to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. This represents a new initiative for HBSC in Canada, with interpretation of the national report findings being enriched by this process.”
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March 5, 2012
“Social inequalities in health are again the focus of our annual report. Our intention is clear: to measure the progress made and identify the best ways to reduce these inequalities. This framework is fitting since the fight against social inequalities in health and the prevention of chronic diseases—themes that are closely linked in many respects—are the two priorities set out in the regional public health plan defined for the next five years.
To put it briefly, “keeping our community healthy” is the maxim that underlies all our activities and interventions. In this area, the public health department has many accomplishments. All sectors are active in vaccination, prevention, information and
awareness raising, surveillance and screening. Their goal is to improve the health of
all Montrealers in collaboration with the health and social services centres.
However, not everything in health is about care and prevention. Social inequalities in
health result from socioeconomic disparities among individuals and neighbourhoods,
in terms of their environments. For this reason, reducing inequalities requires the
participation of many sectors of society. To reach this goal, concrete actions must be
taken, starting with those most likely to reduce, or even eliminate, poverty and to
support childhood development from the very beginning.”
Posted in READ Portal, Reports & Papers | Tagged with Canada, Health care reform, Statistics & numerical data | No Comments
January 19, 2012
The 2000 First Ministers’ Communiqué on Health articulated the commitment of federal, provincial and territorial governments to improve accountability and reporting to Canadians. It directed them to collaborate and develop a framework of comparable health indicators on health status, health outcomes and quality of service. It also committed governments to comprehensive and regular public reporting. These commitments were reiterated in the 2003 and 2004 Health Accords.
Healthy Canadians—A Federal Report on Comparable Health Indicators 2010 is the fifth in a series of reports on the health status of Canadians and the performance of our health care system.
Healthy Canadians 2010 presents 52 indicators that are based on input from health partners, experts and the public at large, and were identified as being of interest and/or use to Canadians. Data on the general population come largely from Statistics Canada, the Canadian Institute for Health Information, and the Public Health Agency of Canada. Limited information on First Nations and Inuit are drawn from the Aboriginal Peoples Survey. Almost all of the reported data are from 2000 or later, and all highlighted differences are statistically significant.
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December 13, 2011
“This sixth edition of Health at a Glance provides the latest comparable data on different aspects of the performance of health systems in OECD countries. It provides striking evidence of large variations across countries in the costs, activities and results of health systems… The indicators presented in this publication have been selected on the basis of their policy relevance and data availability and comparability. The data come mainly from official national statistics, unless otherwise indicated.”
This resource contains information on a number of topics, with the main content headings as follows:
- Health Status;
- Non-medical Determinants of Health;
- Health Workforce;
- Health Care Activities;
- Quality of Care;
- Access to Care;
- Health Expenditure and Financing, and;
- Long-term Care.
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Posted in READ Portal, Reports & Papers | Tagged with Access to care, Benchmarking, Funding, Quality of care, Statistics & numerical data | No Comments
