Can hospital dashboards provide visibility of information from bedside to board? A case study approach

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to analyse hospital dashboards’ visibility of information at different management levels to improve quality and performance in an acute general hospital. Design/methodology/approach: Data were generated via 21 semi-structured interviews across different management levels. Findings: All management levels had greater visibility of information, could make informed decisions, and registered performance improvement. Specifically, waiting time improved, however since introduction of hospital dashboards was work-in-progress at time of study, managers could not record improvement in terms of cost reductions, clinical effectiveness, patient safety and patient satisfaction. Different managerial levels had different visibility with top management having the greatest. Research limitations/implications: In single case studies, where only one context is used, the findings cannot be reproduced in different contexts; even though most of the results could be matched with the current literature. Practical implications: The need to have balanced key performance indicators that take into account other facets of improvements, apart from time, has been emphasised. Furthermore, if middle and departmental managers have greater visibility, this would allow them to work towards a strategic fit between the departments that they manage with the rest of the hospital. Originality/value: There is scant literature regarding performance dashboards’ enhancement of visibility of information at different management levels. Furthermore, according to the authors’ knowledge, no other paper has tried to identify and discuss the different levels of information, which should be visible from bedside to board namely to management, clinicians and public.