• Subscribing hospitals track avoidable delays using the proprietary Compare AD delay dictionary.
• Subscriber hospitals submit delay tracking reports to ACMA monthly.
• ACMA performs comparative analysis of delay occurrence rates and trends, and releases quarterly benchmarking reports to subscribers. Reports compare delay occurrence rates for the most frequently reported delay reasons, and benchmark individual subscribers against the national subscriber group.
• Valid comparisons of occurrence rates for individual delays are possible through standardized delay reason codes.
• Compare AD produces benchmarking and comparison between organizations of various sizes using delay rates per number of discharges.

Avoidable Delay Dictionary – Compare AD utilizes a dictionary of delay reasons that were developed by case management departments and practice tested in leading organizations. What makes the Compare AD dictionary different from all others?

• Clear accountabilities for delays
• Practice-validated in case management departments at multiple organizations
• Standardized to allow valid comparisons between organizations

Education – Implementation education is provided to both leaders and staff through conference call and/or webinar. Education trains subscribers to use the system(s), and refocuses staff on delay tracking and prevention.

Benchmarking Reports – Compare AD subscribers receive quarterly reports that are specific to their hospital - comparing their performance to the national subscriber group. These reports provide the data necessary for performance improvement and influencing decision-makers throughout the organization.

Best Practice Identification & Studies – Further reports and analyses define larger delay trends, identify top performing organizations, and educate the subscriber group about their effective processes. The first such study has already been performed using the data repository developed during 15 months of Beta testing. All new subscribers receive this study upon subscribing.

Compare AD subscribers receive quarterly reports that benchmark their organization’s Avoidable Delay performance against the national subscriber group. Reports compare data in several ways, including comparisons of delay categories, most frequently reported delays, and occurrence rate trends. To view sample reports, click here.

Reports are made available to subscribers through their subscriber portal on the Compare AD website and/or through a web link to download their reports. Subscribers may also choose to have a hardcopy of their reports mailed to them each quarter.

Compare AD subscribers submit monthly tracking reports to ACMA. In addition to overall hospital data from the month (i.e. total discharges), data submissions include the following information for each delay occurrence:

• Admission source
• Payor
• Admission and discharge dates
• Date of delay occurrence
• Delay reason code (from Compare AD dictionary)
• Delay reason definition (from Compare AD dictionary)

All data is submitted electronically. An improved system is currently under construction to allow subscribers to submit monthly data through their subscriber portal on the Compare AD website.

Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, IL was one of the key development and Beta testing sites for the Compare AD system. Director of Case Management, Sandy McFolling, recently authored an article on tracking avoidable delays and applying this data for performance improvement, published in Collaborative Case Management, ACMA’s quarterly educational journal (Summer 2008 issue). To read the article, click here. (Article copyrighted by ACMA and used with permission.)

How important are Avoidable Delays in case management? According to the 2007 ACMA National Hospital Case Management Survey, Avoidable Days/Delays was the second most frequently tracked key outcome metric among case management departments – reported by 88% of case management departments. Only length of stay (LOS) was tracked more frequently (98%). This reflects a significant increase from the 2005 National Hospital Case Management Survey, where only 25% of departments reported Avoidable Days/Delays as a key outcome metric for case management. To view these data from the 2007 Survey, click here. (The 2007 ACMA National Hospital Case Management Survey included 427 acute-care case management departments, and produced national benchmarking data with a 95% confidence-level. Data is copyrighted by ACMA and used with permission.)

Coming soon

What about Protected Health Information (PHI)? Data submitted to ACMA does not include any patient identifiable information. Each delay occurrence is assigned a sequential case number, and does not include patient names, SSN, or other identifiable information.