Every system is perfectly designed to get the results it gets. This quotation, commonly attributed to Dr. W. Edwards Deming,1 has never been more relevant for urgent care (UC) than right now. Considered the original guru of quality improvement, Dr. Deming was explaining why systems must be redesigned if the desired outcomes are not being achieved. The existing “system” for measuring clinical quality in UC needs an overhaul. It is fragmented and underdeveloped, and lacks …
Read MoreBeyond Vital Signs: Managing by Metrics for Optimal Health of Your Practice
Urgent message: Establishing a system of metrics and ‘dashboards’ allows the urgent care operator to quantify key success factors and company values that may otherwise be impossible to measure. Laurel Stoimenoff Metric – Function: noun \’me-trik\ Def: A standard of measurement – Merriam Webster Online Dictionary. “What gets measured gets managed.” This pearl applies not only to the behemoths like General Electric, but also to a single-site urgent care center. A 2008 survey by the …
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