What changes is KLAS making to its performance evaluations?
The total number of questions in the KLAS software and medical equipment performance evaluations is being reduced from 40 to 25. The number of questions in the professional services evaluation is being reduced from 18 to 15. In addition, evaluation questions are being grouped into more logical categories. The new categories for software and medical equipment are:
Sales & Contracting
Implementation & Training
Functionality & Upgrades
Service & Support
Service & Support
The new categories for professional services are:
Sales & Contracting
Service Delivery
General
Download the evaluations below for a more detailed look at the specific questions that are changing:
 Software Evaluation
Services Evaluation
Medical Equipment Evaluation
Why is KLAS changing its vendor evaluations?
The goal of this change is to provide a tool that effectively assesses vendor performance while also respecting the valuable time of healthcare providers by focusing on those questions that best differentiate vendors and by eliminating some redundancy. Also, grouping evaluation questions in logical categories will allow providers, vendors and KLAS to more quickly identify vendor strengths and areas of improvement.
When will the new evaluations be released?
KLAS will begin gathering provider feedback using the revised evaluations on Nov. 24. The new evaluations will be used for online data collection as well as over-the-phone discussions.
When will the new evaluation questions be reflected in Platinum KLAS and KLAS Online?
The new evaluation questions will not be reflected in Platinum KLAS and KLAS Online until mid- January 2010, when KLAS releases a major update to its website and performance database. Though KLAS will begin gathering data using the new evaluations on Nov. 24, the Platinum KLAS/KLAS Online interface will not change until the mid-January release. Questions that are being eliminated in the revised evaluations will still be represented in Platinum KLAS/KLAS Online until mid-January, but KLAS will not be adding any new data to those questions.
Why isn’t KLAS changing the Platinum KLAS/KLAS Online interface at the same time it changes the evaluations?
Since the new evaluations contain several new and revised questions, KLAS will use the approximate two-month gap between the release of the new evaluations and the change to the interface to gather a sufficient volume of data to display representative scores for those questions.
Will there be any differences between the Platinum KLAS/KLAS Online interface for providers and the one for vendors?
Initially, yes. For providers, the mid-January 2010 website upgrade will not only include the new evaluation questions sets, but it will also feature a revised look and feel, new online community capabilities and easier navigation. For vendors, the mid-January 2010 release will only add the new question sets to the existing vendor Platinum KLAS interface. A revised look and feel for vendors will be released sometime in the second calendar quarter of 2010.
How will the reduction in questions affect vendor performance scores?
Some vendors may see a slight upward or downward shift in their product/service performance scores when the new evaluation data is represented in Platinum KLAS/KLAS Online in mid-January. For instance, a vendor that has traditionally scored poorly on questions that will be eliminated in the new evaluations may see a slight increase in its KLAS performance score and vice versa.
How will the reduction in questions affect month-to-month and annual trending?
When released in mid-January, revised trending charts will no longer be grouped as Primary, Detail and Business Indicators. Instead, trends will be tracked for the new categories listed above. Also, historic trends will be based on only the questions that are perpetuated in the new evaluations. Trending will no longer be available for questions that have been eliminated from the evaluations.
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