Various health organizations have their benchmarks in which the member units and institutions are able to measure their performance levels following efficient analysis and evaluation to help promote the delivery of quality services (van Elten et al., 2021). In this case, benchmark programs help in the assessment of the performance rates while checking the performance rates compared with the national or local data. In this case, this includes the activities that happen in the facility with systematic assessment and evaluation, which determine the level of internal functionality (van Elten et al., 2021). Medication error rates, rates of readmission, patient safety and satisfaction levels, as well as the demographics of the facility, are core issues that are addressed in the benchmark. This benchmark analysis paper is based on the March of Dimes institution, which is a facility that aims to promote health for mothers and babies. The organization’s mission is to enhance a world where all mothers and babies are healthy despite their gender, location, race, or wealth levels. The organization has invested about $6.5MM in the research for improvement for the mother and baby outcomes. This is a nonprofit organization whose establishment is to promote the best products for all mothers and children, hence offering the best health outcomes for the community. President Franklin D Roosevelt founded the facility in 1938 with the aim of eradicating polio. Some core roles of the organization include the promotion of health among the populations, carrying out medical research, offering government advocacy, supporting pregnant mothers and women, pregnant women’s educations, and other community programs.
Actual dashboard for the facility
The dashboard in health organizations helps to monitor the delivery of services and the performance indicators to determine the effectiveness of the organizations (Oribhabor et al., 2020). In this case, the organization emphasizes the delivery of safe health care for the mothers whose information is therefore relevant to assess in relation to other facilities. The facility is currently rated at 74% at performance levels. The organizational facilities address the needs of people from all origins, including Hispanics, blacks, Indians, and Asians. The majority of the residents have been of middle and low-income levels, which is a significant aspect of promoting health and well-being for all by reducing the health barriers for the population.
Metrics evaluation:
From the organizations, there are key indicators of quality health, which include infant mortality rates, maternal health, congenital disability rates, and preterm birth rates, which depict the health and well-being levels of the population at large (Wells, 2021). An example is from the Duval counters, where the rates of preterm births are below the metrics. The organization addresses other operations to promote the health and well-being of mothers and babies, which include the Newborn Screening Saves Lives Act of 2013 and the PREEMIE Reauthorization Act of 2018. The new findings of the organization suggest that the rate of low or no access to maternity care affects around 6.9 million women and at least 500000 births in the country. This means a 5% increase in the counties with less maternity access for all mothers. In the maternity deserts alone, around 2.2 million women within the child bearing age and about 150000 babies are in a way affected (March of Dimes Announces New Insights Dashboard to Address Urgent Maternal Health Crisis, 2022). Also, there has been a 2% increase in the counties with maternity care deserts from the 2020 report. This depicts 1119 counties and 15933 women having no maternity care. In Florida, many women have benefited from maternity care, which is more than 92000. In Ohio, many women, around 97000, were affected by reduced access to healthcare (March of Dimes Announces New Insights Dashboard to Address Urgent Maternal Health Crisis, 2022).
Benchmark challenges:
Meeting the challenges of the prescribed benchmarks could lead to strain on the infant and maternal care resources and affect the care professionals, patient-caregiver ratios, working hours, and the conditions of work for the practitioners (Wells, 2021). In this case, despite the fact that benchmarking is integral in the improvement of care, there are associated economic strains and issues with access to resources, which is a critical tool (Wells, 2021). In this sense, there is a need to invest the resources necessary to help counter any strains and challenges hence meeting the health demands of the population.
Benchmark underperformance rates:
In counties like Ohio, there are more women affected by less access to healthcare services, which is a threat to the health and well-being of mothers and babies. According to the 2018 reports, there are 1473 preterm births in Duval County, which earns the county an F performance (March of Dimes Announces New Insights Dashboard to Address Urgent Maternal Health Crisis, 2022). On the other hand, there are racial disparities reports, which include 11% of black women having more preterm births in comparison to 9.5% among women of white origin (March of Dimes Announces New Insights Dashboard to Address Urgent Maternal Health Crisis, 2022). In this case, there are reduced levels of access to care, minimal provision of care for all mothers, and aspects such as the need for strain for the professional to determine effective interventions to promote access to health for the mothers and babies (Wells, 2021).
Ethical aspect:
March of Dimes is an organization that depends on the delivery of care among many stakeholders, including midwives, nurses, legal experts, administrators, representatives, and economic analysts from different areas who are essential in the delivery of care for all patients and helping address various needs of the community (Meadows et al., 2023). In this case, such stakeholders need to focus on the provision of safe working environments for the caregivers and the clients, offering satisfying wages and adequate labor, offering the reproductive health professionals manageable schedules that help them deliver quality care without straining, and the involvement of the neonatal nurses to promote the delivery of safe care for babies and mothers (Meadows et al., 2023). With sufficient caregivers, this is an opportunity to offer safe maternal and childhood care humanely.
Recommendation
- To promote quality of care in the population, there is a need to encourage the delivery of accessible care, which includes the use of mobile clinics, telemedicine, and working in partnership with other local facilities to offer health services for all (Jang & Lee, 2022).
- Also, the organization should appreciate programs that address health inequalities among women and mothers of childbearing age with interventions such as the involvement of community health workers, educational programs, and offering focused care for those at high risk (Jang & Lee, 2022).
- Finally, there is a need to increase access to more resources, which includes lobbying for grants, policy change, and working in partnership with other organizations.
Summary:
In conclusion, the benchmarking process is a core aspect of enhancing evidence-based improvements in the healthcare sector, which helps develop competitive performances to promote the population and its well-being. In this case, working on benchmark reports is essential to enhance the provision of quality care for all while promoting performance levels in the care facilities. It also improves assessment of the progress levels in the organizations in the need to ensure the delivery of safe and equal care for all while mitigating the underlying challenges.
References
Jang, C. J., & Lee, H. C. (2022). A Review of Racial Disparities in Infant Mortality in the US. Children, 9(2). https://doi.org/10.3390/children9020257
March of Dimes Announces New Insights Dashboard to Address Urgent Maternal Health Crisis. (n.d.). Www.marchofdimes.org. Retrieved December 20, 2023, from https://www.marchofdimes.org/about/news/march-dimes-announces-new-insights-dashboard-to-address-urgent-maternal-health-crisis
Meadows, A., Byfield, R., Bingham, D., & Diop, H. (2023). Strategies to Promote Maternal Health Equity. Obstetrics & Gynecology, 142(4), 821–830. https://doi.org/10.1097/aog.0000000000005347
Oribhabor, G. I., Nelson, M. L., Buchanan-Peart, A. R., & Cancarevic, I. (2020). A Mother’s Cry: A Race to Eliminate the Influence of Racial Disparities on Maternal Morbidity and Mortality Rates Among Black Women in America. Cureus, 12(7). https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.9207
Wells, S. (2021). Helping Mothers Have Healthy Babies. Delaware Journal of Public Health, 7(4), 152-159. https://doi.org/10.32481/djph.2021.09.020
van Elten, H. J., Sülz, S., van Raaij, E. M., & Wehrens, R. (2021). Big Data Healthcare Innovations – Performance Dashboarding as a Process of Collective Sense-Making (Preprint). Journal of Medical Internet Research, 24(2). https://doi.org/10.2196/30201
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