Rs. Turpin et al., A MODEL TO ASSESS THE USEFULNESS OF PERFORMANCE INDICATORS, International journal for quality in health care, 8(4), 1996, pp. 321-329
This paper describes the Perception-Action-Impact (PAI) model used for
testing the usefulness of health care organization performance indica
tors, and reports preliminary data in support of this model, Two hundr
ed and ninety six hospitals contributed 500,000 obstetrical cases, and
responded to surveys to assess various aspects of indicator usefulnes
s. Domains of interest that were assessed include relevance of the mea
sures, whether the measures identified opportunities for improvement,
whether the health care organization took any action in response to th
e data, health care organizational structure for data use, and methods
for dissemination of the indicator data. Findings from this study pro
vide support for the PAI model, Consequently, perceptions regarding th
e indicators apparently have a significant impact on the usefulness of
the data, When action was taken in response to the indicator data, a
positive impact on patient care processes and outcomes was the typical
result, Additional research is needed in the areas of data disseminat
ion effectiveness, and the impact of attitude change on the use of per
formance measures. Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd.