Helping Hospital Systems Achieve High Performance
<p>Multi-hospital health systems are the most common organizational structure in the hospital industry, with the 250 largest hospital systems accounting for more than half of all hospital admissions in the United States. The leaders of these systems play an important role in strengthening the quality and safety of patient care in the United States. <br /><br />With Commonwealth Fund support, the Health Research and Educational Trust (HRET) has prepared <a href="/publications/fund-reports/2010/mar/guide-achieving-high-performance-multi-hospital-health-systems">A Guide to Achieving High Performance in Multi-Hospital Health Systems</a> to inform system leaders about what they can do to ensure that patients across all of their hospitals receive the highest quality care available. <br /><br />Based on HRET research and interviews with leaders from a diverse group of 45 health care systems, the new resource provides nearly 20 best practices along with specific examples. The best practices fall into four major categories: </p>
<ol>
<li>Establishing a system-wide strategic plan with measurable goals. </li>
<li>Creating alignment across the health system with goals and incentives. </li>
<li>Leveraging data and measurement across the organization. </li>
<li>Standardizing and spreading best practices across the health system. </li>
</ol>
<p>As the guide makes clear, these practices require an organizational culture that "enables performance improvement and effective and efficient execution."<br /></p>