The Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) released its 2014-15 results and Chatham-Kent Health Alliance (CKHA) saw its administration expenses drop to 7% on the public site.
CKHA officials say this shift in administrative expenses is largely associated with the substantial and unique cost of operating the Central Ambulance Communication Centre (CACC) in Wallaceburg.
With an annual operating cost of almost $2.5M, the CACC`s inclusion in CKHA`s administrative expenses made the percentage higher than similar sized hospitals without an associated ambulance dispatch centre.
“CKHA transitioned the operations and management of the CACC to the Centre for Prehospital Medicine at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in 2014, resulting in an immediate and notable reduction in administrative costs,” CKHA officials stated in a press release.
“In fact, that marked the beginning of a two year downward trend associated with CKHA`s administrative expenses. The hospital`s most recent analysis, using current CIHI definitions, indicates that the organization ended 2015-16 with administration expenses of 5.7% which equates to a reduction of 18% over the previous year’s results. This figure is in line with Ontario averages and demonstrates CKHA`s continued commitment to reducing unnecessary administrative expenditures.”
CKHA officials say they are showing performance improvement in several other areas, particularly in Emergency Department (ED) wait times.
The 2014-15 CIHI indicator results show the total time spent in the ED for admitted patients, from triage until the patient gets an inpatient bed is 12 hours; this indicator is trending well above the provincial index of 29 hours,” CKHA officials said.
The results are calculated based on the 90th percentile, or, what results are like 9 times out of 10.
With Chatham-Kent’s aging population, CKHA is committed to improving patient outcomes in vulnerable patient populations such as seniors by providing efficient, safe, high quality care.
“Performing well above the provincial index of 85.1%, 97.7% of CKHA’s hip fracture patients are on the Operating Room table within 48 hours – a best practice strategy for best possible recovery,” say CKHA officials.
“The organization is also excelling in reduced readmission rates with only 7.5% of patients readmitted to hospital, trending above provincial performance of 9.1%. Partnerships and collaboration among community healthcare providers through the Chatham-Kent Health Link – an initiative that identifies frequent users of CKHA’s services in real-time and creates a collaborative response to better manage their care, have contributed to the reduction in this indicator.”
CKHA’s partnership with MediaMed Technologies, a Logibec Company, helps to identify the needs of frequent visitors to the ED and inpatient units, also contributing to lower readmission rates.
“As a highly innovative tool, Med GPS identifies, tracks and analyze these patients at all times, giving an approach that is much more hands-on and results-focused,” CKHA officials stated.
In sync with hospitals of similar size, CKHA’s Hospital Standardized Mortality Rate (HSMR) indicator is trending at a rate of 90.
“This important measurement tool compares a hospital’s mortality rate with the overall provincial rate and provides an opportunity to identify areas for performance improvement. Over time the HSMR indicates how successful hospitals have been in reducing unexpected inpatient deaths and improving care. And, the organization’s dedication to continuous performance improvement has resulted in a lower than average Cost of a Standard Hospital Stay at $5,279, comparable to the average of similar sized hospitals’ standard rate of stay at $5,954.”
CKHA officials say the Standards for Management Information Systems in Canadian Health Service Organizations (MIS Standards) is a set of national standards for gathering and processing data and for reporting financial and statistical data on the day-to-day operations of a health service organization.
CKHA reviews its practices and aligns expenses to the continuously evolving MIS Standards.
While CKHA supports the transparency afforded through CIHI`s site, the information posted reflects historical data – in some cases the data is two years old.
The site and regular release of information by CIHI provides all hospitals with the opportunity to understand their costing and performance within various contexts, such as the region of operation or compared to other institutions.
This allows CKHA and other institutions to ask questions about their ranking and make improvements as needed or able.
