Benchmarking clinical outcomes for accreditation, risk management, and quality patience care. Benchmarking clinical outcomes for accreditation, risk management, and quality patience care.
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Benchmarking performance and outcomes for accreditation, risk management and quality patient care in surgery centers
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    Chironet, LLC.

 


Frequently Asked Questions

Q:

How long does it take to enter data?

A: Most centers report that the average time needed to enter one patient’s data into the Outcomes Monitoring System (OMS) is thirty seconds. In addition, many find that by using OMS, they can reduce or eliminate other “monitoring” activities that were in place prior to joining SOIX.
Contact Us
Address: 800 E. Leigh St., Suite 206-5
Richmond, Virginia 23219-1598
Toll Free Phone: 877.602.0156
Phone: 804.754.7626
Fax: 804.740.9401
Email: contact@soix.com
Q: Whom will we be “benchmarked” against?
A: With SOIX, all benchmarking is reported “by procedure,” so knee arthroscopies are compared to knee arthroscopies, cataracts to cataracts, and so on. Currently, the SOIX database represents over 100 ASC’s in 37 states across the United States.
Q: How many ASCs are members of SOIX?
A: Membership tends to average between 60 and 70 centers at any one time.
Q: Are most of your members specialty centers?
A: No, most of our members are multispecialty centers, with about 30% being specialty centers. We are also seeing more surgical hospitals (either as new members, or transitioning centers).
Q: What are the most common procedures reported?
A: The top five specialties include orthopaedics (arthroscopies), ophthalmology (cataract removal), ENT (tubes, T&A), GI (endoscopy), and Pain Management.
Q: How much does membership cost?
A: Cost varies depending upon the volume of procedures performed at the center. In addition, corporately owned ASC’s receive a “group” rate if they subscribe to a Corporate or Sustaining membership. The price for SOIX membership is all inclusive and covers all training and technical support of the system, consultative resources for performance improvement, upgrades, monthly reports of your cumulative, quarterly and monthly results, and a “network” of ASC’s as a resource for best practices.
Q: How will I get reports of my outcomes?
A: Reports are generated monthly and accessible to the individual member through the SOIX web site. Each member is assigned a username and password that allows their access to their data anytime and anywhere Internet is available.
Q: What indicators do you use?
A: SOIX uses 10 quality indicators encompassing complication rates, returns to surgery, hospital admissions, pain management, patient satisfaction and patient teaching. The quality indicators are based on a study undertaken by the Illinois Hospital & HealthSystems Association and have been adapted and enhanced to serve the ambulatory surgery setting.
Q: Will this meet JCAHO and/or AAAHC standards for benchmarking?
A: Yes. SOIX is one of the few benchmarking systems designed specifically for ASCs that is included on JCAHO’s list of “acceptable” performance measurement systems. Members that are surveyed by JCAHO and AAAHC have received NO recommendations for “benchmarking.”
Q: What is included in my membership?
A: All training and technical support of the system, consultative resources for performance improvement, upgrades, monthly reports of your cumulative, quarterly and monthly outcome measurement results, Cost benchmarks, graphic displays of your data, benchmarks with over 100 ASC’s across the US, and a “network” of ASC’s as a resource for best practices.
Q: Are there any deadlines for data submission to SOIX?
A: There are no deadlines for data submission, however, the reports are generated around the middle of each month. Many members like to have their data submitted prior to time that reports are generated, while others routinely work one to two months behind. When reports are generated, all data submitted during the previous six months are included.
Q: Is OMS HIPAA compliant?
A: All data submitted to SOIX through the Outcomes Monitoring System is devoid of any patient identifiers. All “identifying” information is maintained at the center. If needed, SOIX can provide members with a Business Agreement for meeting HIPAA regulations.
Q: Can SOIX help us identify “best practices?”
A: YES! With SOIX, you belong to a “network” of ASCs who are committed to measuring their outcomes and benchmarking them selves with others. Members often call SOIX for “referrals,” and SOIX can query the database to find the center with the “best” score for a particular area.
Q: How can I use the Outcomes Monitoring System for more than just benchmarking?
A: Many of our members use the Outcomes Monitoring System as either the backbone of their quality assessment and improvement program, or as an augment to an already existing and strong performance measurement program. Those centers who take the fullest advantage of the system have learned how to extend the information received through the system by looking beyond the reports and graphics prepared by SOIX. They use the SOIX reports to help them identify specific cases that need review, then pulling those medical records and looking for more details about how they might improve. Many use all of the optional fields on the Medical Record Abstract, as well as creating their own fields by using the Institution Specific Variables. However you decide to use any computer system, remember, the system should work for you. For more ideas about how OMS may best work for you, please contact us at SURGICAL OUTCOMES.
Q: When are reports generated? Do you send notices to the centers when reports are available on the Internet?
A: SOIX begins a report generation on the 15th. of every month. Once the reports have been checked, an email is sent to all members advising them that the reports for the preceding month are available for their review. If you are not getting these notices, it could be because we do not have an email address for you. PLEASE LET SOIX KNOW OF THE EMAIL ADDRESS FOR YOU OR YOUR CENTER so that we can assure proper notification and communication.
Q: Do I need to have the Outcomes Monitoring System installed on my computer in order to access the feedback reports?
A: The SURGICAL OUTCOMES feedback and benchmarking reports are retrieved from the Internet (www.soix.com), and may be viewed from any computer with Internet access. You do not need to have the Outcomes Monitoring program installed in order to retrieve your reports. The Outcomes Monitoring program itself provides a means of collecting and entering your outcomes data, and submitting that data to SOIX. It is necessary, however, to have Internet access on the computer in which you install the Outcomes Monitoring System, as we do use the Internet connection to enable transmission of raw data from the surgery center to SURGICAL OUTCOMES.
Q: How do I show cases in which the patient could not be reached for post discharge interview?
A: Few centers are able to reach 100% of patients for post discharge telephone interview. In these cases, the interview form should NOT be initiated. That is to say, you should not click the “continue to patient interview” button after completing the Medical Record Abstract. When you click “continue to” buttons, the system initiates a record for that section of data collection. If that record is then left blank, the system defaults all of the blanks to “no” which can create “false-negative findings, particularly on the post discharge telephone interview. It is perfectly acceptable to have, for example, 10 medical record abstracts and only 5 interviews. When your data is reported back, you will see how many “records” you submitted and how many “interviews.” This will allow you to compare your rate of interview to that for all centers.
Q: Do I have to submit the Cost Survey data over the Internet?
A: No, you can print the Cost Survey form from the SOIX web site at www.soix.com (click “members”, click “cost benchmarks”) and complete the paper form which can be mailed or faxed to SOIX. NOTE, you must register at the Cost Benchmarks page before you can view and print the survey form. A list of definitions is also available from the SOIX General Information page. If all else fails, call us toll free at 877-602-0156 and we will mail or fax the forms and definitions to you.
Q: We have been monitoring cataract removals for about a year now. Is it okay to start monitoring a different procedure?
A: Yes, as long as you are satisfied with the performance in cataract removals. You are free to monitor any procedure on our list at any time, and we encourage you to submit as much data as possible. However, each center must carefully weigh the amount of monitoring needed at their facility. Its easy to get lost in the forest while looking for the trees, so we usually suggest that centers start with one or two procedures until they are comfortable with the reporting system. Even if you stop monitoring cataracts regularly, you may still want to monitor them periodically (once a year for example), just to make sure the performance remains satisfactory.