(1)  I would like to read definitions of the term
benchmarking from several differenct sources.  I would also like to
read several different discussions of what benchmarking is -- AND IS
NOT.
It appears that the term is used quite loosely and I want to be able
to discuss with people not only what people think benchmarking is, but
what it actually is.
(2)  I would like access to review at least four customer satisfaction
BENCHMARKING studies that have been completed or published in the
healthcare or long-term care industries (i.e. retirement communities,
assisted living communities or nursing homes. In addition to
citations, I will need to read a DISCUSSION or analysis of the
methodology and the results.

---

Request for Question Clarification by leader-ga on 07 Jan 2004 16:18 PST

Hello mikey25-ga:

I have worked on your question. I will post my findings for your
review. Only, if you are satisfied, I will post the findings as an
answer.

Thanks.

---

Clarification of Question by mikey25-ga on 07 Jan 2004 16:43 PST

For leader-ga.  Since I have never used google answers before, I don't
know what you mean when you say that you will post the findings for my
review - only if I'm satisfied will you post them as answers. Are you
saying that you want to determine if the findings are what I'm looking
for, and, if not, that you will require clarification before
continuing? Kindly clarify.  Thank you.

---

Request for Question Clarification by leader-ga on 07 Jan 2004 16:54 PST

Thanks for your response.

What I will do is to post the findings as a 'Comment'. If you are
satisfied, you may tell me to post it as an answer.

Please note that anyone can post relevant information as a 'comment'.
You won't be charged on that. You will only be charged, if I (or any
other google researcher) post the findings as an answer.
Therefore, I just wanted to make sure that you are only charged for
the right answer.

Regards,
leader-ga.

---

Clarification of Question by mikey25-ga on 07 Jan 2004 17:13 PST

Leader-ga.  Thank you.  I will await the comments. I actually do have
a tight time frame for this research, so your responsiveness is
appreciated. I did not see any place in the form to indicate that I
had a deadline (and don't know if one is permitted since I didn't
review the instructions carefully last night).Perhaps once can mention
a deadline in the question section????

---

Request for Question Clarification by leader-ga on 07 Jan 2004 18:15 PST

Thank you. I will post whatever I have, to see if thats what you need.
Sincerely,
leader-ga.

---

Clarification of Question by mikey25-ga on 08 Jan 2004 09:51 PST

Leader-ga.  Most of these are very useful. Thank you. However, can you
find any benchmarking studies at all that have been done in the
assisted living industry, specifically? I know that my question about
benchmarking studies mentioned healthcare "and/or" long-term care.  I
used the phrase "and/or" because I was concerned that I wouldn't find
anything in assisted living. However, it's important for me to know if
there have been ANY benchmarking studies done in the long-term care
industry, and, most importantly, the assisted living industry. These
can be national or regional benchmarking studies, or corporate wide
studies for some of the chains.  Is that doable within the $50?

---

Request for Question Clarification by leader-ga on 08 Jan 2004 10:53 PST

Hello mikey-ga:

I have started doing additional research. Don't worry about the price.
My job here is to assist you in anyway possible. I will let you know
of any progress soon. Thanks.

---

Request for Question Clarification by leader-ga on 08 Jan 2004 11:35 PST

Hello mikey25-ga:

I have come out with more results. Provider Magazine for long term
care professionals has archives of its articles on the web. Some of
these articles might just be what you need. Take a look at their
archives at http://www.providermagazine.com/pv-archive.htm
which include such studies as:

Patients Thrive in Day Care Suites
http://www.providermagazine.com/pdf/caregiving-11-2003.pdf

Pressure Ulcer Benchmark studies in the Nursing Facilities.
http://www.providermagazine.com/pdf/caregiving-07-2003.pdf

Pushing the boundaries of Quality
http://www.providermagazine.com/pdf/mgmt-06-2003.pdf

These are just a few examples. There are lots of useful articles
available. Check to see if this helps. If yes, I will include some
additional information; if no than we can look forward to something
else. I will wait for your clarification.

Please be assured that I will work with you until you are satisfied.

Sincerely,
Leader-ga.

---

Clarification of Question by mikey25-ga on 09 Jan 2004 07:22 PST

Leader-ga.  There are some articles that will be useful in Provider
Magazine.  Could you check to see if there have been any actual
national or benchmarking studies on customer/resident or family
satisfaction, staffing, employee satisfaction or internal operations
in the assisted living industry specifically?  That's all I need now. 
Thank you.

---

Request for Question Clarification by leader-ga on 09 Jan 2004 09:29 PST

Thanks, I have started looking.

---

Request for Question Clarification by leader-ga on 09 Jan 2004 10:47 PST

Hello mickey-ga:

I wasn't able to find any studies by the government but here are a few
by private organisations. Take a look to see if this is something of
value.

Thanks........

Public Policy Institute Research
http://research.aarp.org/il/fs62r_assisted.html
This is a nationwide study on the needs of the residents of assisted
living facilities.

Gainey Associates Inc. ? Quality Customer Service
http://www.alsuccess.com/articles/0a1feat3.html
?Press Ganey Associates, a healthcare research firm, examined the
factors that create positive word-of-mouth referrals in
assisted-living communities and discovered a number of interesting
findings.?

Press Ganey ? The Satisfaction Monitor in Assisted Living
http://www.pressganey.org/products_services/readings_findings/satmon/article.php?article_id=147
?Despite the demand for a simple tool for assessing satisfaction with
service quality, to date, there exist very few that meet the
industry's needs. Press Ganey has just completed the testing and
development of a tool to measure satisfaction that reflects the unique
constellation of assisted living programs.?

Amenities make the difference
http://www.alsuccess.com/articles/0a1feat1.html
?With the increased number of senior-living communities, and the
increased interest in assisted living, more communities are beginning
to offer special amenities for their residents in an effort to improve
occupancy rates and to retain market positions.?

Brecht Associates Inc. ? Benchmarks for adapting demand methodologies 
http://www.alsuccess.com/articles/881feat3.html

---

Clarification of Question by mikey25-ga on 09 Jan 2004 17:27 PST

Leader-ga. Thank you. There is one benchmarking study completed for
the Assisted Living Federation of America by the ProMature group but
the cost is over $100 so I think I'll pass. Unless you find anything
from NIC, one of the long-term care associations like American Senior
Housing Association, etc. or something published by the large assisted
living chains, it appears that not much has been done in benchmarking.
 I suspected that.  Thanks for your help.
Just let me know if a quick check of the above sources yields anything
other than references to studies for purchase, etc.  If not, I'm done
and I appreciate it.  I guess you then publish the answers?

---

Request for Question Clarification by leader-ga on 10 Jan 2004 07:44 PST

Hello mikey-ga:

After your clarification requet, I tried to look for anything that
could serve our purpose. I checked the websites of long term care and
assisted living organisations but couldn't find anything conclusive. I
honestly appologise that I wasn't able to locate something of great
value.

Only with your permission and with great appreciation, I am publishing
the results as an answer.

Sincerely,
leader-ga.

Hello mikey25-ga:

Here are some reports for your review. I know they might not match
exactly what you need but some of them are very close to what you
seek. Let me know if you are satisfied so I can compile an answer
along with benchmark definition. Also, let me know if you think, they
are just OK or they are utterly incomplete. Thanks.
__________________________________________________________________
Centralized Scheduling with Tempus Software Pays Off for Ohio IDN
http://www.all-health.com/products/informationsystem_technology/ohiohealth.htm
?Customer service improvement was the focus of Grant/ Riverside's
baseline research. Current patient satisfaction with the scheduling
process was measured via in-house surveys.?
__________________________________________________________________
ENCOMPASS® improves scheduling and physician access at Pennsylvania?s
Centre Community Hospital
http://www.all-health.com/products/informationsystem_technology/centre.htm
?ENCOMPASS®? compatibility with Citrix has also made it easier for
outside physicians? offices to schedule patient appointments at CCH.
Prior to ENCOMPASS® and Citrix, a physician usually would call in to
schedule an appointment with a department after the patient had
already left the office?
__________________________________________________________________
Web-Enabled Reporting Solution Enhances Customer Relationships at
Healthcare Provider
http://www.headstrong.com/HS/Article/0,5995,1-293,00.html
?A leading healthcare provider enjoyed record annual growth but was in
danger of losing customer accounts because they responded slowly to
customer requests and couldn?t anticipate changing trends. The company
turned to Headstrong in search of a flexible solution that would
expand the business and retain customers.?
__________________________________________________________________
What Consumers Say About the Quality of Their Health Plans and Medical Care?
http://www.ahcpr.gov/qual/ncbd2000/NCBDrepa.htm
The National CAHPS® Benchmarking Database (NCBD) is a new resource
that provides benchmarks to facilitate comparisons across health plans
by users of the CAHPS® survey. In the U.S. health care system, use of
the Consumer Assessment of Health Plans survey is widespread.
__________________________________________________________________
Benchmarking study
http://www.findarticles.com/cf_dls/m3257/n5_v52/21045751/p1/article.jhtml?term=
?In 1997, QuadraMed Corp. conducted the National MEDPAR DRG
Benchmarking Study to establish national norms for hospital coding and
case mix based on DRGs using the same data available to the government
for its investigations. Three different types of DRGs were analyzed in
this study, including complicated and uncomplicated DRG pairs, related
DRG pairs, and selected individual DRGs.?
__________________________________________________________________
Benchmarking study
www.diabetescqi.org/DMSviewer.asp?doc_uid=68
?As part of its mission to improve the quality diabetes care in
California, the diabetes CQI project established the clinical
benchmarking study. The study systematically measured the quality care
that the 23 participating provider organizations delivered to diabetes
patient during the twelve month study period. The project is using the
results to facilitate disease management by provider organizations, as
a baseline for eventually measuring its success at improving quality
of care, and to identify and disseminate best practices among leading
groups.?
__________________________________________________________________
Benchmarking study
www.biofind.com/business/reports/1benchmarking.pdf
?This report serves as a benchmark as it presents insights into the
most current areas of investigation in protein and proteomic research.
Initial protein studies revolved around the identification and
characterization of single proteins and the investigation of their
corresponding genes.?
__________________________________________________________________
Benchmarking study
How to avoid tarps in benchmarking customer service?
http://healthcare.isixsigma.com/me/benchmarking/
?This article attempts to illustrate where organizations go wrong in
their effort to achieve breakthrough performance in customer
satisfaction. It also suggests an alternative formula for success.?
__________________________________________________________________
Benchmarking study
Benchmarking study in the dynamics of nursing attraction, retention and turnover.
http://www.archi.net.au/content/file/download.phtml/type/File/id/1172/field/file/name/TheDynamicsofNursingAttractionRetentionandTurnover.pdf
?The objective of this benchmark study has been to identify the
practical things that managers can do immediately to address their
nursing attraction and retention problems.?
__________________________________________________________________
Benchmarking study
Impact of cultural change-A nursing retention strategy
http://www.archi.net.au/content/file/download.phtml/type/File/id/1173/field/file/name/ImpactofCulturalChange_ANursingRetentionStrategy.pdf
?It Uses National Benchmarking Data from the Best Practice Australian
Benchmarking Study into Nursing Attraction and Retention to examine
the impact of Cultural Change onthe risk of nurses leaving.?
__________________________________________________________________
Comparing credential processes Across Professional Health
Organizations: A benchmarking study
http://gain.mercer.edu/mla/research/hyp00su.PDF
This is a  benchmarking study to review the AHP Program and improve
its effectiveness.
__________________________________________________________________
Reengineering Healthcare 
http://www.wizdom.com/reengineeringhealthcare.html
?A vast support network exists within the DoD to drive BPR initiatives
as a way of meeting the challenges of managed care, base closings and
downsizing. Private sector healthcare entities face similar pressures,
but do not have the advantage of a network of providers acting in
concert. Effective reengineering in private sector healthcare is
possible, and desirable, if a systematic and standardized (across
departments) approach is used.
Recognizing the need for a universal starting point for process
improvements, Wizdom Systems, Inc. developed the Healthcare Enterprise
Reference Model.?
_____________________________________________________________

Other Industries, customer satisfaction benchmarking studies
_____________________________________________________________

Customer Satisfaction standards for Utility Call Centers
http://www.esource.com/public/pdf/mcs_ucc.pdf
?E source in partnership with response call center conducted a
nationwide study to measure and benchmark customer level of
satisfaction with call center interactions.?
 __________________________________________________________________
Healthcare looks to benchmarking to improve business process.
http://www.healthcare-informatics.com/issues/1998/03_98/cover.htm
?A wealth of companies offers products and services that can help
organizations manage performance data and benchmark processes. The bad
news: There's little consensus on "best practices" or the methodology
to measure them, and meaningful comparative data is scarce.?
__________________________________________________________________
Medical Device Manufacturer Increases Customer Satisfaction And
Profitability Through WorkOut
http://healthcare.isixsigma.com/library/content/c030320b.asp
?A medical imaging device manufacturer?s profitability was severely
affected by quality defects in its x-ray tube product line. WorkOut
was selected as the ideal mechanism to drive improvement actions
within a very compressed timeframe.?


--BREAK--


I have come out with more results. Provider Magazine for long term
care professionals has archives of its articles on the web. Some of
these articles might just be what you need. Take a look at their
archives at http://www.providermagazine.com/pv-archive.htm
which include such studies as:

Patients Thrive in Day Care Suites
http://www.providermagazine.com/pdf/caregiving-11-2003.pdf

Pressure Ulcer Benchmark studies in the Nursing Facilities.
http://www.providermagazine.com/pdf/caregiving-07-2003.pdf

Pushing the boundaries of Quality
http://www.providermagazine.com/pdf/mgmt-06-2003.pdf



--BREAK?


Public Policy Institute Research
http://research.aarp.org/il/fs62r_assisted.html
This is a nationwide study on the needs of the residents of assisted
living facilities.

Gainey Associates Inc. ? Quality Customer Service
http://www.alsuccess.com/articles/0a1feat3.html
?Press Ganey Associates, a healthcare research firm, examined the
factors that create positive word-of-mouth referrals in
assisted-living communities and discovered a number of interesting
findings.?

Press Ganey ? The Satisfaction Monitor in Assisted Living
http://www.pressganey.org/products_services/readings_findings/satmon/article.php?article_id=147
?Despite the demand for a simple tool for assessing satisfaction with
service quality, to date, there exist very few that meet the
industry's needs. Press Ganey has just completed the testing and
development of a tool to measure satisfaction that reflects the unique
constellation of assisted living programs.?

Amenities make the difference
http://www.alsuccess.com/articles/0a1feat1.html
?With the increased number of senior-living communities, and the
increased interest in assisted living, more communities are beginning
to offer special amenities for their residents in an effort to improve
occupancy rates and to retain market positions.?

Brecht Associates Inc. ? Benchmarks for adapting demand methodologies 
http://www.alsuccess.com/articles/881feat3.html

---

Request for Answer Clarification by mikey25-ga on 11 Jan 2004 13:20 PST

Leader-ga.  Go ahead and publish.  Thank you again.

---

Clarification of Answer by leader-ga on 11 Jan 2004 17:44 PST

Thank You Again.

This was my first use of Google Answers, so I did not know what to
expect. I found the information provided to be very helpful and the
research clearly saved me a lot of time. Thank you leader-ga.

Hello mikey25-ga:

Here are some reports for your review. I know they might not match
exactly what you need but some of them are very close to what you
seek. Let me know if you are satisfied so I can compile an answer
along with benchmark definition. Also, let me know if you think, they
are just OK or they are utterly incomplete. Thanks.
__________________________________________________________________
Centralized Scheduling with Tempus Software Pays Off for Ohio IDN
http://www.all-health.com/products/informationsystem_technology/ohiohealth.htm
?Customer service improvement was the focus of Grant/ Riverside's
baseline research. Current patient satisfaction with the scheduling
process was measured via in-house surveys.?
__________________________________________________________________
ENCOMPASS® improves scheduling and physician access at Pennsylvania?s
Centre Community Hospital
http://www.all-health.com/products/informationsystem_technology/centre.htm
?ENCOMPASS®? compatibility with Citrix has also made it easier for
outside physicians? offices to schedule patient appointments at CCH.
Prior to ENCOMPASS® and Citrix, a physician usually would call in to
schedule an appointment with a department after the patient had
already left the office?
__________________________________________________________________
Web-Enabled Reporting Solution Enhances Customer Relationships at
Healthcare Provider
http://www.headstrong.com/HS/Article/0,5995,1-293,00.html
?A leading healthcare provider enjoyed record annual growth but was in
danger of losing customer accounts because they responded slowly to
customer requests and couldn?t anticipate changing trends. The company
turned to Headstrong in search of a flexible solution that would
expand the business and retain customers.?
__________________________________________________________________
What Consumers Say About the Quality of Their Health Plans and Medical Care?
http://www.ahcpr.gov/qual/ncbd2000/NCBDrepa.htm
The National CAHPS® Benchmarking Database (NCBD) is a new resource
that provides benchmarks to facilitate comparisons across health plans
by users of the CAHPS® survey. In the U.S. health care system, use of
the Consumer Assessment of Health Plans survey is widespread.
__________________________________________________________________
Benchmarking study
http://www.findarticles.com/cf_dls/m3257/n5_v52/21045751/p1/article.jhtml?term=
?In 1997, QuadraMed Corp. conducted the National MEDPAR DRG
Benchmarking Study to establish national norms for hospital coding and
case mix based on DRGs using the same data available to the government
for its investigations. Three different types of DRGs were analyzed in
this study, including complicated and uncomplicated DRG pairs, related
DRG pairs, and selected individual DRGs.?
__________________________________________________________________
Benchmarking study
www.diabetescqi.org/DMSviewer.asp?doc_uid=68
?As part of its mission to improve the quality diabetes care in
California, the diabetes CQI project established the clinical
benchmarking study. The study systematically measured the quality care
that the 23 participating provider organizations delivered to diabetes
patient during the twelve month study period. The project is using the
results to facilitate disease management by provider organizations, as
a baseline for eventually measuring its success at improving quality
of care, and to identify and disseminate best practices among leading
groups.?
__________________________________________________________________
Benchmarking study
www.biofind.com/business/reports/1benchmarking.pdf
?This report serves as a benchmark as it presents insights into the
most current areas of investigation in protein and proteomic research.
Initial protein studies revolved around the identification and
characterization of single proteins and the investigation of their
corresponding genes.?
__________________________________________________________________
Benchmarking study
How to avoid tarps in benchmarking customer service?
http://healthcare.isixsigma.com/me/benchmarking/
?This article attempts to illustrate where organizations go wrong in
their effort to achieve breakthrough performance in customer
satisfaction. It also suggests an alternative formula for success.?
__________________________________________________________________
Benchmarking study
Benchmarking study in the dynamics of nursing attraction, retention and turnover.
http://www.archi.net.au/content/file/download.phtml/type/File/id/1172/field/file/name/TheDynamicsofNursingAttractionRetentionandTurnover.pdf
?The objective of this benchmark study has been to identify the
practical things that managers can do immediately to address their
nursing attraction and retention problems.?
__________________________________________________________________
Benchmarking study
Impact of cultural change-A nursing retention strategy
http://www.archi.net.au/content/file/download.phtml/type/File/id/1173/field/file/name/ImpactofCulturalChange_ANursingRetentionStrategy.pdf
?It Uses National Benchmarking Data from the Best Practice Australian
Benchmarking Study into Nursing Attraction and Retention to examine
the impact of Cultural Change onthe risk of nurses leaving.?
__________________________________________________________________
Comparing credential processes Across Professional Health
Organizations: A benchmarking study
http://gain.mercer.edu/mla/research/hyp00su.PDF
This is a  benchmarking study to review the AHP Program and improve
its effectiveness.
__________________________________________________________________
Reengineering Healthcare 
http://www.wizdom.com/reengineeringhealthcare.html
?A vast support network exists within the DoD to drive BPR initiatives
as a way of meeting the challenges of managed care, base closings and
downsizing. Private sector healthcare entities face similar pressures,
but do not have the advantage of a network of providers acting in
concert. Effective reengineering in private sector healthcare is
possible, and desirable, if a systematic and standardized (across
departments) approach is used.
Recognizing the need for a universal starting point for process
improvements, Wizdom Systems, Inc. developed the Healthcare Enterprise
Reference Model.?
_____________________________________________________________

Other Industries, customer satisfaction benchmarking studies
_____________________________________________________________

Customer Satisfaction standards for Utility Call Centers
http://www.esource.com/public/pdf/mcs_ucc.pdf
?E source in partnership with response call center conducted a
nationwide study to measure and benchmark customer level of
satisfaction with call center interactions.?
 __________________________________________________________________
Healthcare looks to benchmarking to improve business process.
http://www.healthcare-informatics.com/issues/1998/03_98/cover.htm
?A wealth of companies offers products and services that can help
organizations manage performance data and benchmark processes. The bad
news: There's little consensus on "best practices" or the methodology
to measure them, and meaningful comparative data is scarce.?
__________________________________________________________________
Medical Device Manufacturer Increases Customer Satisfaction And
Profitability Through WorkOut
http://healthcare.isixsigma.com/library/content/c030320b.asp
?A medical imaging device manufacturer?s profitability was severely
affected by quality defects in its x-ray tube product line. WorkOut
was selected as the ideal mechanism to drive improvement actions
within a very compressed timeframe.?