Hospital quality based on 10 key indicators

Upon commission by the NVZ (Netherlands Association of Hospitals), MCW developed the Quality Platform: an accessible tool that gives insight into the quality of healthcare.

The Quality Platform assesses the quality of hospitals based on ten core aspects. In this way, it gives patients and other stakeholders clear insight into issues that affect hospital performance. Patient experiences are also included in this analysis.

Background

In the Netherlands, there is a great deal of public debate about the quality of healthcare. This is understandable, as healthcare is an issue that affects us all. Naturally, if you have to go into hospital, you want to make sure that you get the right care within a safe environment. To make a positive contribution to this issue, Dutch hospitals want to be as open as possible about the quality of care.

The assignment

To develop, in conjunction with the NVZ, an accessible and interactive tool to provide insight into the quality of healthcare provided by hospitals in the Netherlands.

Our approach

The most important question during the development stage was: ‘How can you clearly and accessibly display the quality of care provided by a specific hospital?’ The answer to this question was provided by an interactive tool that assesses the quality of hospitals based on ten key indicators.

Based on the client's needs, MCW set to work on both the concept and the graphic design of the Quality Platform. We also conducted the technical work. The set-up of the tool is entirely responsive and can therefore be accessed via smartphones and tablet computers. We also developed a secure administration environment enabling all hospitals to manage the data and scores themselves.

De tien kaarten

De informatie in het Kwaliteitsvenster is opgedeeld in tien categorieën, ook wel kaarten genoemd. MCW bedacht voor iedere kaart een icoon, zodat de gebruiker snel bij de gewenste informatie terecht komt.

The results

The Quality Platform assesses the quality of hospitals based on ten core aspects. This interactive tool gives people at-a-glance insight into their hospital's performance for a specific aspect compared with its score in previous years, a national average score and/or the applicable standards. Hospitals can also provide additional information about the score.

Indicators
The indicators consist of issues such as high-risk operations, infections, mortality rates and patient experiences, and based on these issues, ten online 'cards' have been created. Each card relates to one of these issues. For example, if a patient clicks on the 'Infections' card, then they access the presentation displaying the particular hospital’s performance regarding infection prevention.

Perhaps more importantly, the patient is also provided with information about the meaning and context of the quality information. For example, how do hospitals explain lesser scores and what are they doing to improve them?