The Value of Benchmarking

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The Value of Benchmarking

                According to The American Society for Quality benchmarking is “a technique in which a company measures its performance against that of best-in-class companies, determines how those companies achieved their performance levels, and uses the information to improve its own performance. Subjects that can be benchmarked include strategies, operations, and processes.”
             Benchmarking can be organized in two categories: internal and external benchmarking. Internal benchmarking is used to compare an organization performance over time, such as examining diabetes ketoacidosis or pressure ulcer prevalence this year as compared to last year within a healthcare organization. External benchmarking, on the other hand, is used by organizations to evaluate their performance against that of a similar organization/institute. External benchmarking can be further subcategorized into mandatory or voluntary benchmarking programs. For example, for a healthcare organization mandatory external benchmarking programs include a variety of programs such as The Hospital Inpatient Value-Based Purchasing program set forth by Center of Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), or ORYX benchmarking program set forth by The Joint Commission, which must be met by the healthcare facility to obtain financial reimbursement and accreditation. It is important to note that for healthcare facilities the CMS provides the largest source of revenue to healthcare organizations and requires facilities to provide safe, quality care to its beneficiaries, benchmarks that are recognized by most private insurance providers as national benchmarks. In addition to mandatory benchmarking programs there are also voluntary benchmarking programs which can add substantial value to the organization, beyond the abilities of mandatory benchmarking programs. Voluntary benchmarking programs relevant to dietitians include Sustain, a registry for home parenteral nutrition patients, and nutritionDay, a program that tracks malnutrition prevalence and provides healthcare facilities with standard assessment tools and collects data so facilities can compare themselves to similar organizations to help them determine areas of improvement in delivery of proper patient nutrition services. The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics practices groups and professional journals such as the Journal of Enteral and Parenteral Nutrition are reliable resources that provide information about comparison standards and various benchmarking programs.

Overall, benchmarking provides an opportunity to objectively view data and compare to set standards which highlight awareness of a problem, and need for intervention. RDs play an essential role in improving benchmarks measured by benchmarking programs. For example, one of the main focus of hospitals is to minimize hospital readmissions within 30 days of discharge as part of the Affordable Care Act which is accompanied by a large financial incentive. RDs can aid the organization’s ability to successfully meet this benchmark by scheduling outpatient nutrition follow up appoints within 30 days of discharge to address any nutrition related reason that could lead to readmission such as malnutrition, dehydration, poor diabetes control, and many others. By doing so, RDs can show their value for their patients as a key member of the healthcare team, and how proper nutrition plays a significant role in all facets of the facility’s care, which will not only support quality patient care, but also will have a positive influence on the facilities funding abilities and will support the need for dietitians  in the clinical setting.
References
Phillips, W. (2015). The value of benchmarking. Today’s Dietitian, 17(2), 44. Retrieved from http://www.todaysdietitian.com/

-KP

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