Key Performance Indicators: A Framework for Allied Healthcare Educational Institutions.

Background: Performance evaluation in the allied healthcare education sector is complex, making it essential for policymakers and managers to approach it comprehensively and thoughtfully to understand their performance. Hence, the development and monitoring of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) in this domain must be considered one of the key priorities for the policymakers in AHIs. Aim: This study aims to develop a framework for the AHIs to extract and profile the indicators, measure, and report the results appropriately. Methods: The authors adopted a general review of the literature approach to study the primary goals of the institutional KPI framework, emphasizing the need for benchmarking while implementing KPIs and how to track performance using a KPI dashboard. Results: The study provides the scope, relevant KPI categories, and a list of KPIs for evaluating the effectiveness of allied healthcare programs. The study findings also emphasized the need for benchmarking the KPIs and establishing a KPI dashboard while measuring and monitoring performance. Conclusion: KPIs are considered an invaluable tool that contributes immensely to the performance monitoring process of AHIs, irrespective of the specialties. This helps to identify and guide AHIs for developing KPIs and the associated minimum data set to measure organizational performance and monitor the quality of teaching and learning. In addition, the KPI framework reported in this study is a tool to assist performance monitoring that can subsequently contribute to the overall quality of AHIs.

A tool to assess the quality perception of healthcare employees.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this project was to determine the validity and reliability of the Healthcare Quality Perception (HQP) questionnaire tool designed to capture employees' perceptions of healthcare quality in Indian hospitals. DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH: Two hundred employees in private and public sector hospitals in India were randomly selected and given the HQP tool. It consisted of 38 Likert-scale items and six different subscales: (1) Planning and Documentation (n = 7); (2) Employee Participation in Quality Management Activities (n = 5); (3) Existence of Policies/Procedures/Guidelines (n = 5); (4) Quality and Patient Safety Management (n = 9); (5) Perceived Effect of Quality Improvement (n = 7) and (6) Training and Development Opportunities (n = 5). 156 completed questionnaires were received, demonstrating a 78% response rate. HQP tool subjected to statistical analysis to measure its reliability and validity. A p-value of less than 0.05 was considered as "significant." FINDINGS: Factor analysis pulled out six factors that conjointly demonstrated 66.4 % of the variance in healthcare professionals' (HCPs') perception of healthcare service quality in selected Indian hospitals. The overall Cronbach's alpha coefficient was measured at 0.959 for internal consistency reliability. This study demonstrates that the identified six critical factors are important determinants influencing HCPs' perception of the quality of healthcare services in private and public sector hospitals in India. ORIGINALITY/VALUE: This study provides evidence for the reliability and validity of the newly developed HCP Scale for the assessment of employee perception of the quality of services offered in selected hospitals in India, with potential applications in other contexts.

Migration Status and Prevalence of Chronic Diseases in Kerala State, India.

Aim. To study the relationship between a personal history of migration and prevalence of chronic diseases and risk factors in a rural population. Method. Cross sectional survey data from PROLIFE, a cohort study involving the long time follow-up of the residents of an administrative unit in Kerala, India, was used. Pre-tested questionnaire was administered to 78,173 adult residents. Information on physician diagnosed diabetes, hypertension, and cardiac diseases and lifestyle attributes like physical activity, habits, and migration was captured. Results. Subjects with a history of migration had a higher prevalence of chronic disease when compared with those with no history of migration. Diabetes (19.6% versus 4.1%), hypertension (18.8% versus 6.6%), and cardiac complaints (8.6% versus 4.1%) are more prevalent among those with history of migration of over 5 years. After adjustment for age, gender, and education, we found that chronic diseases are higher among persons with a history of migration (OR 2.2, 95% CI: 2.1-2.3). Age-specific increases in prevalence of chronic diseases are also substantially higher among migrants. Conclusion. People with a history of migration have a higher prevalence of chronic diseases and risk factors.