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Lest there be any doubt, new research shows that continuous improvement over time is strongly associated with top performance. The finding is the result of the latest research on top performing hospitals.

Patient Safety Monitor Alert, July 28, 2004

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Lest there be any doubt, new research shows that continuous improvement over time is strongly associated with top performance. The finding is the result of the latest research on top performing hospitals, according to Solucient, a Chicago-based healthcare research firm.

"This study demonstrates that an organization aligned to support a culture of performance improvement can consistently achieve a higher rate of improvement than peers," says Jean Chenoweth, senior vice president of performance improvement for Solucient's Center for Healthcare Improvement.

In other words, top performing hospitals are more likely to show continuous performance improvement than other hospitals.

Solucient used data from its "100 Top Hospitals" and "100 Top Hospitals: National Benchmarks for Success" programs, which identify top performing hospitals across the country.

Analysis revealed that the more times a hospital has won the national benchmark award, the greater its improvement during the relevant time period. This suggests an increasing gap in performance between the top hospitals and others.

"Our results indicate that steady and substantive improvement over time does lead to performance excellence," explains David Foster, PhD, vice president of clinical informatics at Solucient. "While this association makes intuitive sense, it is reassuring to be able to demonstrate it quantitatively. Further investigation may lead to more specific insights."

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