Reporting Tools: How do they help (Part One)

Decision-making and planning are key aspects in the running of hospital environments. Proactive measures to ensure effective and precise planning and clinical decision-making assure the overall success of proper hospital management. To ensure that these aspects are managed and executed as expected, high-level health officials are seeking Information Technology assistance in overseeing and aiding in providing qualitative and quantitative data that assists in adding value to hospital management.

Hospital management reports can vary according to specialty, this means that most times health care facilities can choose for themselves which areas are necessary to track, analyse and present to their executives. Keeping that in mind, the main goal of reports in healthcare environments is to bring to the forefront information that proves useful in ensuring that quality healthcare can be provided. This data can either be analysed by experts or direct but the intent of the information needs to provide insight into areas that can either be improved or removed.

Strategic and result-driven reporting should focus on data sets and trends as compared to individual patient records, this information provides a holistic overview to senior-level stakeholders and decision-makers. Consistent quarterly or bi-annual presentations of reports allows for the board to view how the facility operates over a period of time and not based on the specificities of individual patient care.

In reality, there are only 3 target areas whereby reporting should focus on within a healthcare facility;

· People

· Resources

· Operations

In each of the above areas, reporting contributes to the overall improvement of standards and the quality of care at a hospital institution.

To be more precise, hospital reporting tools should include collapsible information (such as dashboards) and analysis on;

§ Various departments, specialties, and treatment types

§ Human Resources – (all staff including surgeons, nurses, administrators, janitorial etc)

§ Medical Equipment Usage and Maintenance

§ Facility Operations

§ Financial Resources

Prioritisation

A hospital environment is a busy, hectic, and dynamic environment where the availability of a plethora of information is available. However, prioritising which data is necessary based on the above fields helps administrators to tailor and customise reporting tools that are specific to the needs of the hospital and would collect crucial data that would lead to evidence-based and results-driven actions.