Getting to Know Health Indicators

Getting to Know Health Indicators

Getting to Know Health Indicators

Get an summary of what health indicators are and find out how stakeholders in the least levels of our health systems use these valuable tools to urge high-level, comparative information on key issues

Learn about health indicators:

Pointers are part of daily life. In your car, indicators such as checking the engine light and temperature gauge will alert you to possible engine problems. In your home, the battery icon on your mobile phone or tablet gives you an idea of ​​how much power and time you have left. For a country, indicators such as unemployment rates, gross domestic product, and the consumer price index have shed light on the state of the economy. Others tell you things about the people who live there, such as homelessness, education, literacy rates, or income. Get the picture? In the health sector, indicators can tell you about the quality and effectiveness of different interventions or treatments. They can tell you about health outcomes, quality of care, and even how much public money is spent. But what exactly is the indicator? The pointer acts as a science that draws your attention to something that is happening and makes you ask questions. Questions like ... • What does this number mean? Why did we get this result? When looking at trends, do we improve over time? Do we provide appropriate care? How do we do a comparison with standards, peers or others? The index provides a standard way to measure and compare a problem or focus area. This standard and comparable information helps you understand how well your performance is and where you can improve it. At CIHI, we are in the field of developing, calculating and reporting on health indicators. Things such as: health status, death rates, hospitalization, standard hospital stay, pressure sore rates in long-term care, waiting times, and rates for specific procedures such as hip alternatives. These indicators are expressed in quantity and help you measure things like safety, quality, suitability, and efficiency - and give you a basis for comparison. So health indicators are vital tools to help anyone monitor and manage the health of the population and how to use the services. It helps employees at all levels of our health systems to understand performance at the Canadian, regional, organizational, and even program level. In fact, there are different types of indicators for different types of audiences. Let's take a look at some examples. Hospitals use the Hospital Mortality Index - or HSMR - to measure and monitor the quality of their care. Workers in long-term care facilities use the potential inappropriate use of antipsychotics in the long-term care index to identify areas for improvement and assess performance improvement initiatives. The smoking index, which measures the percentage of people who smoke a specific population, helps regions determine the effectiveness of smoking cessation initiatives. It is also important to understand that different health indicators are calculated in different ways, depending on their purpose and purpose. Some are simple, while others require more complex analysis. Some tell you about the lineage; Others are standardized or risk-adjusted prices. But all good indicators are based on a specific set of standards, measuring what you claim to measure, and allowing you to compare results in a way that lets you know that you are comparing apples to apples. One cursor cannot give you the full story. It is just the tip of the iceberg. In other words, health indicators do not provide solutions. Rather, they provide evidence of performance beyond. So it really is just a starting point for further investigation. But it is a great tool for providing top-level comparative information on major issues. So you should really look at a variety of indicators that work together to get a bigger picture of your health system performance, and support quality improvement and accountability. Now that you know more about the health indicators and the value they provide to stakeholders at all levels of our health systems, then why not make them work for you? Visit the CIHI website and learn more about the indicators, data, and tools we provide to help support better decision-making that drives the health of Canadians.