Performance Indicators - Frequently
Asked Questions
What are indicators, and why are they so important?
-
Indicators are
concise measures that give Trillium's Board and
Management a sense of how we are performing - where we
excel and where improvements can be made
-
Indicators help
us understand our performance, compared to accepted
standards and aim for continuous improvement
Note: Indicators are just one very specific tool for measurement
and improvement.
What are the three
key roles of measurement?
Indicators, like
many other forms of measurement, can be used in three broad
ways:
- Understanding:
to assist Trillium in understanding how our system is working
and how we might make improvements (research role)
- Performance: to monitor if and how a
Trillium system is performing to an agreed standard (performance/managerial/improvement
role)
- Accountability: to allow us to hold ourselves
up to patients, the government and taxpayers and be openly
examined as individuals, teams and organizations (accountability/democratic
role).
Why do we publish
performance indicators?
We support the Ministry
of Health and Long-Term Care’s belief that hospitals
should share this information with the public.
By comparing how
we are doing with health care targets, standards and averages,
Trillium learns about our strengths and areas for improvement.
How is data calculated?
Definitions of
the indicator and how it is calculated are included on each
page.
We use national and provincial targets, standards and averages,
or we set our own, based on published research, if they are
unavailable.
To make the numbers easier to understand, we also add the
following key:
| Better
Than Target
|
At
Target |
Needs
Improvement |
Unavailable |
|
|
|
|
Technical
definitions
How often are the
performance indicators updated?
We post new information
on a quarterly basis. Timing matches our reporting to Trillium's
Board of Directors.
Targets for many performance indicators are not decided by
us, but by provincial or national governments and agencies.
We post new targets, standards and averages when they become
available.
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