Clinical Practice Performance Metrics

Performance Metrics in Clinical Practice
Clinical performance feedback is important in today’s healthcare sector because of the ongoing commitment and efforts to enhance the quality and affordability of patient care. Feedback regarding clinical performance and practice helps in the development of patient care strategies that enhance outcomes and result in increased patient satisfaction. Clinical performance feedback from nurse practitioners and other healthcare providers is essential in improving clinical practice and patient care. As a result of the significance of clinical performance feedback, nurse practitioners are held accountable to and evaluated on various performance metrics in clinical practice. Some of the performance metrics that nurse practitioners are held accountable and assessed on include patient care measures, patient satisfaction, professionalism, medical and clinical knowledge/skills, and practice-based learning and improvement (Holley, 2016).
While these performance metrics are critical in clinical practice, patient satisfaction is of primary importance in improving patient care. Patient satisfaction is a valid indicator of performance and the quality of health care since the ultimate goal of patient care is to enhance patient outcomes. According to Riebling et al. (2018), patient satisfaction is a critical performance metric in clinical practice because it indicates patient experience and outcomes. Patient experience has an inherent value to patients and their families since positive experiences are strongly linked to better outcomes and overall patient satisfaction. When used to evaluate and hold nurse practitioners accountable in clinical practice, patient satisfaction provides insights on the quality of care and patient experience. Such insights can be utilized to develop strategies that help improve patient experiences and outcomes. Moreover, insights from patient satisfaction metrics can be used to improve the health care setting.
References
Holley, S.L. (2016, February 1). Ongoing Professional Performance Evaluation: Advanced Practice Registered Nurse Practice Competency Assessment. Continuing Education, 12(2), 67-74. Retrieved November 27, 2020, from https://www.npjournal.org/article/S1555-4155(15)00851-X/fulltext
Riebling et al. (2018, November 17). Quantifying Patient Satisfaction With Process Metrics Using a Weighted Bundle Approach. BMJ Open Quarterly, 8, 1-8. Retrieved November 27, 2020, from https://bmjopenquality.bmj.com/content/bmjqir/8/1/e000458.full.pdf