Process Measure is a simple software tool to help non‑profit healthcare organizations in the United States to efficiently improve their performance in terms of any desired measures, such as those defined by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid (CMS) at cmit.cms.gov.
As we know from Edwards Deming, the outcomes of a system are primarily determined by its processes.
Therefore, to improve its performance in terms of any desired measures, a healthcare organization needs to focus on improving the processes that feed into those measures.
Improving a process can mean one of two things:
- Achieving and maintaining process stability.
This means improving compliance with the process specifications, in other words, making sure that each step in the process is performed as prescribed. - Changing the process to eliminate inefficiencies or pitfalls.
Process Measure is designed to make it easy to do both of these things, all with one simple chart based on simple, transparent mathematics.
It can be used for any process for which direct monitoring is feasible, meaning that for every incident someone can use a checklist to record whether each step in the process was performed according to specifications and, if not, why not.
A process can consist of many steps. Trying to improve the performance of all the steps of a process at the same time could be a waste of precious resources, if only one or two steps are causing significant trouble.
Process Measure enables healthcare organizations to identify, at a glance, within specific processes, the individual steps that are causing the most trouble. It does this by giving each step within each process a so-called Severity,
a measure that combines how often the step is not performed correctly, what impact that has on subsequent steps, and what impact it has on process outcomes.
No great expertise is required to understand which step in each process needs the most urgent attention, because it is displayed in a simple chart, part of which looks something like this:
In this chart, the horizontal bars tell us immediately, without requiring any great learning on our part, that Step 4 is the biggest troublemaker in the process in question. In the complete chart, there is an additional column with a description of each step.
In the process illustrated here, it might be a good idea to work not only on Step 4, but also on Steps 5 and 6. Steps 3, 8, and 9 need no attention at all.
If all severities were zero (as with Steps 3, 8, and 9), the process could be considered stable.
The columns RPF, APF, PSS, and PFF display the ingredients put into the mathematical pot to produce the Severity, which is a measure of how much negative impact each step in the process has on the outcome. They are explained in detail on the relevant page of this program.
With Process Measure you can define as many processes as you wish.
There are many more details that we would be happy to explain to you in a personal discussion.
Sample Data
The table below provides a list of users in fictitious hospitals that are affiliated with each other. They track their performance on six measures.
To log in as any of these users, just click on the "Log in" button in the appropriate row.
Once you have logged in, you can find some sample data. If you log in as two different users, in separate browsers, you may find it interesting to compare some of the charts that appear in the Benchmarking section of the application.
Please note that these fictitious users have limited permissions. They are not allowed to enter any data or configuration information. If you would like to explore the application more thoroughly, please register for an account of your own.
Security
This site uses encryption for all sensitive data at rest and all data in transit, as well as other security measures. It does not require or encourage the entry of any Private Health Information, nor does it store any kind of financial data.
Testimonial
We have been using Process Measure at our hospital for over a year. Process Measure has helped us understand and analyze the key influencing factors (steps) affecting our DTN (door to needle times) for stroke patients receiving thrombolytics. This has created an objective method for determining where to focus our process improvement methods to get the most “bang for the buck” … aka biggest leverage on the outcome. Operationally - the software is easy to use, entered data is readily accessible for edits if required, and the informative setup procedures make the learning curve short for new users. With several design features that allow flexibility in adapting the program corresponding to changes in clinical workflow (steps) and the ease with which performance graphs can be obtained is truly impressive. We received kudos from the DNV stroke accreditation surveyors on innovative use of Process Measure to drive process improvements. We are excited about spreading the use of this tool to other acute care situations in the hospital.
Devesh Dahale, Director of Health Systems Engineering at Southeast Health, Dothan, Alabama, March 6, 2024
Registration
To register, you will need a valid promotion code. If you have not been given one, please feel free to write to us at admin@process-measure.com.
Contact
You can contact us by e‑mail at admin@process-measure.com.