Quality Management and the Ripple Effect

In the latest KLAS report on quality management, providers indicate that they are looking for a ripple effect.

The ripple effect is when the effect of an event is expanded far beyond its immediate location.  

One of my favorite examples of the ripple effect is in the movie Pay It Forward. The story line is about a young seventh grader who accepts a challenge given by his teacher to change the world for the better.  Starting with a few small acts of kindness and a request to each recipient to “pay it forward,” the impact soon becomes very powerful. More and more people are affected. As I watched the ripple effect of good deeds flow from this young boy to others, I thought about the impressive impacts that can result from one small action. Whether it be a viral YouTube video or microeconomic events that affect macroeconomic markets, the ripple effect is very real and can be very powerful. Such is the case with quality management in healthcare.

In the latest KLAS report, Quality Management 2013: The Ripple Effect, providers indicate that they are looking for a type of ripple effect from their quality management solutions. They are hoping for products that have a more significant impact and expand beyond regulatory reporting functions. They are looking for solutions that expand into operational and financial improvements and have a lasting positive impact on patient quality.

There is a select group of vendors that are doing relatively well in terms of the impact their solutions are having. Specifically,Premier, Xerox, Advisory Board, Cerner, and UHC were reported by over two-thirds of their clients as having a high impact. However, the question is still whether providers are receiving the ripple effect they are looking for. Or is the impact just a large stone dropped in a pool of water without any secondary effects?

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