es can analyze their institutions and compare the results with industry standards. Such detailed analyses are made possible through PC-based decision support technology. This technology will soon become indispensable in the assessment of the performance of health care delivery systems.
Although many executives have access to decision support technology, few are aware of its potential and proper use. This is the contention of Frank Stearns and John Mazie in the article "Using PC-based Decision-Support Technology to Improve Efficiency." According to the authors, this technology can analyze about 20 clinical quality indicators including mortality rates, length of hospital stays, readmissions, complications, etc. This data can then be compared with internal, historical data or compared with statistics from other institutions to determine the existence of unfavorable variance. Data is readily available on the clinical and operational performance of other institutions from both public and proprietary sources. In addition to
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