Creating "actionable data" for complex service systems - Example: Health Care |
Description: Human and social service systems are complex environments that present challenges for collecting program performance information. A general problem for performance measurement initiatives—and what often causes them to fall short of their intended objectives—is the failure to choose performance measures that are actionable, meaning that they are linked to practices that the organization can actually do something about and the changes in those practices can be linked directly to improved care. This class will concentrate on the health care field from a complex adaptive system (CAS) perspective, and examine performance measurement strategies that support actionable data. The focus will be on data-based decision making, value-based issues, and practice-based evidence that can assist in moving performance measurement and quality monitoring activities from a process, outcome, and impact evaluation approach to continuous quality improvement. Business models such as Toyota Production System, Six-sigma and Balanced Scorecards will be discussed in terms of how they can inform improvement strategies. NOTE: While the class uses health care as the illustrative model, the concepts are applicable to other service systems and some of these will be addressed, e.g., education. Caveat: Persons with experience in evaluating service-care programs and those with interest in a systems perspective will likely derive the most benefit from this course. Instructor: Dr. Ann Doucette is Senior Research Scientist, Center for Health Services Research and Policy, The George Washington University Medical Center,Washington, DC. She has broad experience in the management, analysis, and evaluation of intervention programs, including the development of accountability and outcomes monitoring systems for programs that cut across individual and system levels; and in research methodology, data collection, psychometric and measurement techniques, evaluation research, and applied statistical analysis, including both quantitative and qualitative approaches. She has worked with foundations, public schools, mental health services, universities, and community groups; with young children and families; in social policy, juvenile justice, urban and minority education, morality and ethics, vocational education, conflict resolution, and more. She developed several assessment measures using Item Response Theory to generate more precision with briefer, less burdensome assessment instrumentation that lends itself to computer-adaptive applications and real-time data usage. Currently, she is collaborating on the development of a comprehensive, integrated measurement system that assesses both treatment process indicators as well as service intervention outcomes for children and adolescents. Among her other responsibilities, she is co-chair of the Outcomes Roundtable for Children (supported by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration) and serves on the Executive Committee and Methods Workgroup of the Forum on Performance Measures for Behavioral Healthcare and Related Service Systems. She received her doctoral training at Columbia University.
Fee: $425 |
