What Is The Value of Health Care Measurement and Reporting? May 2014 Note: This is one of seven slide sets outlining MONAHRQ and its value, available at

What Is MONAHRQ? Windows-based software from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) to help you and your organization create your own healthcare reports and websites Evidence-based – uses measures, data sources, and reporting techniques that are based on research Quick – generates reports and websites in days, not months Easy – designed to be intuitive so no training is needed to use it Flexible – allows customization to ensure that the reports and websites are relevant Free – provided by AHRQ at no cost to anyone who wants to produce health care reports and websites The purpose of MONAHRQ is to help increase transparency by disseminating evidence-based information that is understandable and useful for improving health care safety, quality and affordability. For more information, see the “What Is MONAHRQ?” presentation 2

What Can Measurement Do? Measurement is a way to understand what is happening in the health care system and identify opportunities for improvement A few examples of what MONAHRQ can help you measure: ► The performance of hospitals, as a way to assess whether and how often providers do what they should to get the best possible safety, quality, patient experience, and other outcomes ► How often a certain type of care is provided (e.g., utilization rate) or a key event happens (e.g., patients being readmitted to the hospital), to assess whether the amount of care provided seems to be appropriate ► The cost of common types of care (e.g., average charges or payment levels) or how often avoidable events occur (e.g., rates of healthcare associated infections, patients being hospitalized for preventable conditions), and cost savings to identify opportunities to make health care more affordable 3

Why Is Measurement Important? “You can expect what you inspect." W. Edwards Deming, business leader in quality improvement You can’t improve what you don’t measure Measurement enables understanding of where things stand, where improvement is needed, and when improvement has taken place Measurement should focus on what is most important, reflect scientific evidence, and provide information that can inform actions to improve the results 4

What Is Reporting? Reporting means sharing the results from measurement in an understandable way to inform decisions Public reporting can inform individuals’ decisions about their care and motivate organizations to take action to improve Private reporting can provide valuable performance feedback within an organization With MONAHRQ, reporting can be public or private, or a combination of both 5

Why Is Reporting Important? Reporting on health care safety, quality and affordability motivates improvement by shining the light on problem areas and areas of success A growing number of States and Federal laws require health care quality and cost reporting to the public Health care reporting allows for benchmarking across regions and organizations, and promotes competition in the health care market Public reporting allows individual patients and healthcare- purchasing organizations to make decisions based on collected data, which can incentivize higher quality and lower costs. Source: “Public Reporting and Transparency” (Colmers, John M., 2007), The Commonwealth Fund: Commonwealth Fund: 6

What Is the Rationale for MONAHRQ? Measurement and reporting is universally needed, yet the process can be complicated and expensive A few examples of this process include: ► Collecting, validating, and structuring data sources, then calculating measure results, utilization rates, etc. ► Understanding leading edge research in measurement, plus best practices in designing the most effective reports and websites for different audiences ► Creating layouts and structure, then applying IT knowledge and other skills to program and host the reports and websites MONAHRQ software was developed as a public good to enable organizations to more easily use evidence-based measures and data to report on health care quality and cost 7

Evidence-Based Design, Yet Customizable to Meet Your Needs The default approach reflects evidence and research to ensure that reports and websites you generate with MONAHRQ: ► Include measures that are trusted, nationally recognized, and higher impact because they are consistent with measures others use, too ► Apply design and layout approaches that reflect the leading edge of knowledge about what is most effective MONAHRQ allows you to customize many elements ► Customize the website theme color, images and content, as well as measure names, descriptions and display elements ► The Host User Guide offers guidance about the tradeoffs of varying from the research- and evidence-based approach 8

Example: How Data Can Lead to Action 9

For Further Information Visit to access these additional slide setsVisit to access these additional slide sets: What is MONAHRQ? Why Use MONAHRQ for Health Care Reporting? How to Get Started with MONAHRQ What Types of Reports and Websites Can MONAHRQ Generate? Who Uses MONAHRQ? Future Plans for MONAHRQ and How to Get Involved To receive updates about MONAHRQ, ask to join our listserv by ing 10