DICA insights improve results for a great variety of clinical conditions

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52% lower mortality and 29% fewer severe complications after colorectal cancer surgery

history

32-minute reduction in time between diagnosis and treatment (door-to-groin-time reduced from 87 to 55 minutes)

The challenge

DICA’s first registry started in 2009 and was initiated by a group of GE surgeons, part of the Dutch Association of Surgeons (Nederlandse Vereniging voor Heelkunde, NVvH). They embarked on a quest to learn about best practices in colorectal cancer surgery, in order to raise the overall quality of care. They wanted to identify clear-cut areas for improvement in individual hospitals and reduce variation among them. Clinical results would be compiled and published, making a lasting contribution to scientific learning in the field of colorectal cancer surgery.  

“We wanted to get clarity on the performance for individual hospitals while advancing the quality of care in the Netherlands as a whole. ”

Eric Hans Eddes, Director DICA (Dutch Institute for Clinical Auditing)

The solution

DICA established a partnership with MRDM (part of LOGEX) to build a robust benchmarking platform. MRDM specializes in collecting, processing, and distributing data and information on clinical outcomes, where DICA covers the methodology.

DICA and MRDM gradually developed a robust benchmark platform in the last ten years, with the colorectal cancer surgery registry as a tipping point. The platform shows the performance of healthcare institutes relative to their peers, based on standard KPIs developed by medical associations that DICA methodologically supports.

Bringing clarity to clinical performance, with measurable results

MRDM’s benchmarking platform supports short improvement cycles, empowering providers and clinical audit boards with up-to-date information and access to best practices. Advanced filtering options enable the hospitals to benchmark indicators per specific patient profile, thus realising maximum improvement potential. Users can update data on a daily basis. When requested by participants, the results can be safely shared with other stakeholders (patient organisations, research, payers, etc.)

In addition to weekly updates on clinical performance, DICA publishes an annual report and annual cycles on governed external transparency. With the benchmarking platform in place, the providers can now zero in on different opportunities for improvement and take action to address them. Conditions for which the platform is currently used include oncology, anesthesiology, diabetes, other internal medicine, surgery (treatment of obesity, breast implants, pediatric surgery), stroke, cataract, etc.