Where does HealthStat get its data?

Hospital and Local Health Office (LHO) Activity:

Hospitals and Local Health Offices (LHOs) i.e. community services all over Ireland work to deliver services through millions of patient contacts each year. Staff at every level in our hospitals and community services gathers and report significant volumes of performance information as part of their work. Though the data collected is reported through several systems, all the information ultimately originates within the hospital or LHO.

Data:

The data that HealthStat uses is provided by multiple sources : e.g. Casemix/HIPE, NTPF, Finance, Human Resources, the Business Intelligence Unit and direct from the individual hospitals and Local Health Offices (LHOs) themselves. This comprehensive data is analysed by the HealthStat unit, taking into account each hospital's and LHOs individual profile, and often informed by on-site meetings with local service managers and clinical directors.

HealthStat Dashboards:

Data is supplied to HealthStat on a monthly basis - e.g. January data will be submitted before the end of February and the dashboard and results issue within around 3 weeks of submission. The whole cycle takes about 6 to 7 weeks. HealthStat analysts use the dashboard to generate overall observations on the performance of hospitals and Local Health Offices (LHOs).

HealthStat Forum

Each month, the information generated through HealthStat is discussed at a HealthStat Forum meeting, led by the HSE CEO and attended by the Regional Director of Integrated Services, the hospital CEOs and Clinical Directors and the Local Health Office managers. The aim of the HealthStat Forum is to share best practice and address problem areas in specific hospitals and Local Health Offices (LHOs) in a positive way. Hospitals and LHOs from HSE Areas within a Region attend the HealthStat Forum together with each site attending annually at a minimum.  . The HealthStat Forum discusses suggestions for improvement in individual hospitals and LHOs and identifies systemic performance issues that need a national approach.

HealthStat Metrics:

The performance dashboard is based upon a set of metrics that are periodically reviewed. These metrics are selected to reflect hospital and community services operational performance but are aligned with HSE plans at national and corporate levels. The HealthStat for Hospitals Guide and HealthStat for Local Health Offices Guide contain detailed description of the metrics.

Follow-up:

After each HealthStat Forum the hospitals and Local Health Office receive a list of actions and points discussed for follow-up. HealthStat is an ongoing process - results are strictly followed up from one meeting to the next.