Balanced Scorecards: Individual Metrics and Scorecards

Balanced Scorecards

Scenario: West Central Hospital
West Central Hospital is a major teaching hospital that operates intern and residency programs, and is a member of a multihospital health care system. The hospital is located in the suburbs, and its community has new building construction, moderate population growth, and aging and pediatric populations that are increasing.

This hospital has these additional features:
- 410 licensed beds for general acute care, but only 370 operating (staffed) beds
- Annual admissions of about 30,000
- An emergency department with approximately 90,000 annual visits
- A case mix index of about 1.15
Among the services it provides are:
- Both inpatient and outpatient rehabilitative (physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech language pathology) services
- Behavioral health services
- A neonatal intensive care unit
- All other ancillary and support services expected of such a hospital
Analyze BSC and critique and provide suggestions. .

Part 1: Individual Metrics
Select four metrics, each from a different category and complete the following:
- Identify and define the respective numerator, denominator and rate/ratio.
- Review and interpret the trended data. What do the data, and their trends, tell you about this particular aspect of the hospital?
- Suggest a likely type of database or data source for each metric (this can be from internal and/or external sources).
- Suggest actions that management could take to improve outcomes associated with the metric.

Part 2: Overall Scorecard and Monitoring a Strategic Goal
- Based on this scorecard, which areas of the organization seem to be doing well, and which ones are most in need of improvement? What are your grounds for concluding this? Summarize what these scorecard indicators say about this organization in comparison with its peer organizations (e.g., the Custom Compare Group).
- Consider the selection of metrics for this scorecard. Do you think this scorecard will provide managers and administrators with a balanced view of the organization's performance? Explain why or why not. Suggest adding and/or deleting any metrics and provide a rationale for doing so.
- Review the scenario and consider these details in connection with the scorecard data. Propose a significant, yet plausible strategic goal for this organization. Then identify 2-3 metrics the organization should focus on to help them meet this goal. Are these metrics in the scorecard already? If so, which ones are they? If not, which metrics would you add to the scorecard to help leadership monitor this strategic goal?

References:
Health Care Operations Management (Langabeer, 2008)
Quantitative Methods in Health Care Management (Ozcan, 2012)

Articles:
Anonymous. (2008). Slaying the budget-killers: New strategies emerge for physician preference products. Hospital Materials Management, 33(11), 1-3.
Barlow, R. D. (2010). Kept in the dark. Healthcare Purchasing News, 34(2), 48-49.

Website
J.L. Reinertsen (2007, June 11) "Boards, Dashboards and Data" [Powerpoints slides].
Balanced Scorecard Institute: What Is the Balanced Scorecard? http://www.balancedscorecard.org/BSCResources/AbouttheBalancedScorecard/tabid/55/Default.aspx