Benchmarking healthcare quality in the United States
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought the quality of healthcare in the United States under increased scrutiny. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) within the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is charged with improving the safety and quality of the US healthcare system. The purpose of this study is to benchmark healthcare quality in the United States using data provided by AHRQ. The study consists of quality measures compiled by AHRQ that are utilised by the 48 contiguous states comprising the United States along with Alaska, Hawaii and the District of Columbia. The measures are set against achievable benchmarks to assess US healthcare quality at the national, regional, divisional and state levels. The results of this study show that the Northeast region has the highest average number and percentage of healthcare quality benchmarks achieved in the United States. At the divisional level, New England leads the country in healthcare quality. An analysis at the state level reveals that Maine is the leader in healthcare quality in the Northeast region, Wisconsin and Iowa in the Midwest region, Delaware in the South region, and Colorado in the West region. The results of this study can be used by policymakers at the national, state and local levels to target healthcare quality improvement initiatives in the United States.
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Author's Biography
Archie Lockamy Iii , PhD, CFPIM, is the Margaret Gage Bush Professor of Business and Professor of Operations Management at Samford University. Prior to his academic career, Dr Lockamy held various engineering and managerial positions with DuPont, Procter and Gamble and TRW. Dr Lockamy has published research papers in numerous academic journals and co-authored the book Reengineering Performance Measurement: How to Align Systems to Improve Processes, Products and Profits. Dr Lockamy served on the 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2002 board of examiners for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award via appointment by the United States Department of Commerce. He also served as Vice President of the board of directors of the American Production and Inventory Control Society (APICS) Educational and Research Foundation. Dr Lockamy is recognised as a Certified Fellow in Production and Inventory Management (CFPIM) by Association for Supply Chain Management (APICS), and is certified as an Academic Jonah by the Avraham Y. Goldratt Institute.
Citation
Lockamy Iii, Archie (2021, September 1). Benchmarking healthcare quality in the United States. In the Management in Healthcare: A Peer-Reviewed Journal, Volume 6, Issue 1. https://doi.org/10.69554/AKMH5510.
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