Healthcare professionals and administrators shoulder a plethora of responsibilities. From calculating annual budgets and administrative work, to representing their organization and hiring, they comprehensively manage the many aspects of healthcare. Although healthcare administrators possess many skills, decision-making and critical thinking are among the most valuable. They use these skills in tandem with health statistics recently made accessible due to data collection and technological advancements in information dissemination such as the internet.
Statistical health information has become easily accessible, and professional competency has adapted to include frequent updates to improve decision-making. The American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE) promote competency groups, directories, and tools on their official site in an effort to lead more healthcare professionals into utilizing health statistics.
[1] For example, the Global Consortium for Healthcare Management Professionalization’s mission is to educate government and the healthcare community on the link between quality healthcare performance/treatments and quality administration. The ACHE also emphasizes the Healthcare Leadership Alliance Competency Directory and the Competencies Assessment Tool as helpful assets toward professional development.
How Health Statistics Assist Healthcare Administrators
Recent trends and technological advancements have helped accumulate meaningful healthcare data. As a resource it can help professionals, doctors, and administrators make more informed decisions, performance analysis, and maximize efficiency.
[2] The following are a few benefits health statistics provide:
Product and Service Allocation: Healthcare administrators can use available data to determine what services and equipment is needed, where, and how much.
[2] Balancing units and departments with the appropriate resources is a difficult task, and statistics can improve allocation.
Organization: Statistics are used to summarize and organize community health.
[2] Instead of assuming or guessing what the population’s issues and needs are using smaller focus groups, healthcare administrators can use previous information to develop a detailed view of their community.
Improvement and Development: Statistics are vital to measuring performance and progress. [2] They identify when a strategy or tool works/improves or doesn’t work/deteriorates. Professionals use performance measurements as benchmarks that can be observed along a timeline for further development.
Community Health Statistics Resources
Healthcare administrators have too many responsibilities to commit everything to memory. Some healthcare statistics such as those at the global and federal level might not directly affect their area of influence. However, state and community level statistics can provide critical insight to their decision-making process.
The following are resources healthcare professionals can utilize for updated community statistics:
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The County Health Rankings and Roadmaps: This resource provides health overviews dependent on county and ranks them according to their health. Healthcare professionals can use this resource to find health snapshots of any county in America.
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United Health Foundation’s America’s Health Rankings: This resource provides state health statistics based on historical and detailed data, and ranks them according to their health. They provide breakdowns such as annual senior reports and women and children reports that view specific data from different perspectives.
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State of the USA Health Indicators: This resource is a book for now, with a website on the horizon. It is a guide through 20 indicators measuring an organization’s health. Additionally, it provides an overview of the efficiency and effectiveness of the U.S. health systems.
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Canadian Index of Wellness: This resource provides a framework comprised of health reports and data to be accessed by healthcare professionals, government officials, and the community. It identifies Canada’s health goals and the progress toward them.
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Healthy People 2020: This resource reveals 10-year health goals for American citizens to achieve. It has tracked the past 30 years of goals and progress, documenting results and trends. It also encourages and empowers communities to stay health-educated and cooperate with one another.
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National Prevention Strategy: This resource is the official surgeon general site, dedicated to improving national health and providing a strategy to attain better health. From tobacco use to mental well-being on national and community levels, it is the government’s embodiment of healthy living. Additionally, it provides data to support the proposed goals and visions
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Annie E. Casey Foundation’s KIDS COUNT: This resource represents work done by the Annie E. Casey foundation. They provide health information particular to family and children in need of help. They reveal health statistics concerning poverty and limited opportunity along with grants that can help communities improve overall strategies.
Educated and competent healthcare administrators aren’t just needed; they are required. Successful healthcare professionals maintain a comprehensive outlook on their communities’ healthcare trends and needs. They utilize the aforementioned resources to observe statistics at all levels so they may manage their organizations or departments appropriately.
