Measuring Actionable Health Outcomes

In a time where budgets constraints are at an all-time high and there are large amounts of justification to be done behind the provision of a service, treatment, technology or process, it is important to document the outcome in a way that it is accurate and easy to understand and can give you reason to make an appropriate decision.outcomes

In the healthcare landscape this is ever more so important as there are not only limited budgets, but also patients lives’ at stake therefore the outcomes of their care need to be well documented so that doctors, nurses, clinicians and therapists are able to learn from it when providing care in the future and reducing repeat admissions.

Recently, we have learnt of individual members of the public visiting the accident and emergencies department on average 50 times a year, with some people visiting over 200 times in a year! Although there could be a plethora of reasons behind this, some saying people who feel lonely may visit A&E for emotional comfort, which is not what A&E is for, major factors will be include a lack of information sharing for common illnesses that occur throughout various seasons and their ailments and bad treatment methods. If outcomes were better measured effective treatments could be standardised amongst disease/conditions.

Looking at an example where outcomes were measured on an interactive dashboard, we turn to therapy outcome measures (TOMs). TOMs allows a therapist to measure the abilities of a patient in four distinct ways: physical impairment, activity, participation and well-being. Patients are scored against these factors on an 11 point scale, at the beginning and end of care.

Pre DCC solution implementation, therapist were manually collecting and analysing the data using Excel spreadsheets. Alternatively, other therapists invested in a patient record system (PRS). There were many problems and issues at collection, extraction and analysis stages. Being a manual process there is always the chance the data entered was inaccurate due to human error. Additionally, those using various PRS could not extract specific data for analysis nor view the data graphically- the system does not have the capability. This was a source of great frustration and annoyance for the healthcare professionals as it was their data which they could access and extract!

DCC’s and our first plan of action was to re-design the TOMs form. Bear in mind, we did not alter the wording of the questions, but simply made it easier to fill out and to automate from-removing the manual entry element, upholding data accuracy. Re-design was done with close contact with front end staff i.e. those filling the forms out to ensure it met their needs. On completion of the TOMs forms, DCC automated the extraction of the data from the forms and exported the data sets to a dynamic interactive dashboard, performing verification and quality checks along the way to ensure the data is accurate. Once the data was on the dashboard, it was in a visual format using a graphical interface allowing the professionals to view their TOMs score in a snap-shot type view as well as allowing them to focus and extract any specific data they may want for analysis and reporting. Adding to this, they could compare and present their TOMs scores with other professionals’ scores, at the same time, questioning each other and formulating best practise and identify reasons behind issues such as why certain patients may have relapsed and had to be re-admitted. Moreover, the dashboard is simple to use with little technical expertise required.

The solution, implemented at University of Sheffield School of Health and Related Research, immediately revolutionised and made processes greatly efficient. Read more about this case study.

Of course, this is the case of only single institution reaping the benefits of automated data capture services and the visualisation of data allowing them to form actionable insights. There are many other institutions and healthcare organisations who are also measuring TOMs and other outcomes in multiple fields such as mental health. Furthermore, the dashboards ability of setting benchmarks and scores means it can also be an effective tool when diagnosing a patient and measuring a patient against a specific scale.

DCC, unlike our larger counterparts, are not an e-commerce company attempting to sell technology and solutions without knowing what is required. We go up and down the country such as Nottingham presenting a knowledge share workshop, which allows you and your team to see what is out there and the options available to you when planning data capture. DCC are not affiliated with any specific manufacturer of hardware or software therefore we bring to you a non-bias view. Also, if we are made aware of the project or research that is being planned we are able to customise the workshop where possible to bring greater value and use of your busy time. The minimum the workshop will facilitate is awareness of what is out there, when you do eventually require a data management solution.

Share: