Efficiency
Primary Care Efficiency and Quality Management System.
Definition
The monitoring and evaluation of primary care services aims to analyse the efficiency of health centres, optimise service provision geared towards health outcomes, and improve citizens’ perception of quality.
Development of specific indicators that integrate both the volume of care activity and the quality of health outcomes, complemented by sociodemographic variables that allow for adequate contextualisation between centres. These indicators will be selected to accurately reflect the resources used and the results obtained, thus facilitating the evaluation of operational efficiency.
Systematic monitoring of these indicators will enable the identification of patterns of technical efficiency and priority areas for improvement, always keeping the patient at the centre of analysis and decision-making in the scorecard.
Origin of the use case
Currently, primary care is challenged by a lack of clear, up-to-date information that would allow for a comprehensive assessment of its efficiency and quality. Data is dispersed across different systems and records lack uniformity, making it difficult to identify critical areas and limiting the possibility of making evidence-based decisions.
This use case has been developed to address this issue. The aim is to create a tool that can integrate information from various sources, identify operating patterns and factors associated with service efficiency, and detect opportunities for improving care processes. Ultimately, the goal is to strengthen resource management and optimise the patient experience by providing a comprehensive, consistent and accurate view of the primary care system.
The Integra Cloud
solution
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The Integra Cloud platform is designed to consolidate, monitor and analyse key efficiency and quality indicators in primary care. Its ability to integrate clinical, operational and population information within a single environment gives management and healthcare teams a comprehensive overview of healthcare centre performance.
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The system facilitates the early detection of deviations in activity, resource use or health outcomes, providing the necessary tools to take preventive action and improve processes. This integration reinforces data-driven decision-making and promotes coordination between different levels of care, ensuring more consistent and efficient care.
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The main contribution of this use case is its innovative approach to measuring the efficiency of healthcare services. Unlike most studies, which are based on a single production or quality indicator, this study uses Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). This technique allows several factors to be evaluated simultaneously, eliminating the need to establish the weighting of their units.
Results
Implementing this system has helped to reduce unnecessary consultations and improve the productivity of healthcare staff by balancing the workload more effectively. By centralising indicators and offering automated analyses, professionals now have access to accurate information with which to guide their continuous improvement strategies.
The result is care that is more agile, efficient and of a higher quality. Monitoring variables such as consultation frequency, the appropriate use of medicines, and avoidable hospitalisations enables the early identification of areas requiring intervention. This translates into shorter waiting times, fewer errors, and more personalised care for each patient.
In short, the Primary Care Efficiency and Quality Management System promotes an evidence-based, continuous improvement model of care, where data is transformed into useful knowledge to provide a more humane, decisive, people-centred service.
