How to Read this Report

What’s being measured?

AHS delivers health services in five zones, each with different populations and geography. The measures presented here track our current and projected performance in a broad range of indicators that span the continuum of care. They include primary care, continuing care, population and public health, and acute (hospital-based) care. Among others, these measures touch upon various dimensions of quality such as: timeliness, effectiveness, efficiency and satisfaction rates.

Assessment of data quality

AHS has initiated a formal process to assess the quality of the performance measures listed in this report, with priority given to the Tier 1 measures highlighted in the 2011-2015 Health Plan. The Data Quality and Operational Readiness (DQOR) review process involves multiple stakeholders in an assessment of the people, processes, and information systems responsible for reporting on a given performance measure which, depending on the measure, can take between three to six months to complete. DQOR assessments have been completed for two measures to date (Hip and Knee Replacement Surgery Wait Times), two measures are nearing completion (ED Length of Stay for both Admitted and Discharged patients within the higher volume EDs), and planning is underway for the remainder of the Tier 1 performance measures.

In the interim, an informal assessment of data quality has been initiated for all performance measures included in this report. Operational areas were asked to complete a questionnaire using a subset of items from the formal DQOR review process. Where complete, the results of this informal assessment have been translated into one of the following statements:

• An internal review of the data quality indicates a very high level of confidence with no known issues.
• An internal review of the data quality indicates a high level of confidence with limited issues.
• An internal review of the data quality indicates a moderate level of confidence with some known minor issues.
• An internal review of the data quality indicates an acceptable level of confidence with known issues.
• An internal review of the data quality indicates a questionable level of confidence with known issues.

How to read this report

This report contains a high level system (provincial) dashboard which offers a summary view of AHS performance against the targets we have established for 2011/12. This provincial dashboard shows the performance at the end of the last fiscal year (March, 2011), the target for the 2011/12 year, as well as the year-to-date (April to December, 2011) prorated target and actual performance. The dashboard also shows trends in performance over the last two quarters, as well as over the past year. If the ‘stretch’ target has been missed, we would still seek to demonstrate improvement from one period to another enabling us to confidently make the right changes to our health system. Each of these three comparisons uses a common “traffic light” method to illustrate how we are doing, as follows:

1. Year to Date Actual to Target Comparison: For measures updated on a quarterly basis, we compare to the year-to-date prorated target as opposed to the year-end target. The prorated target simply allows us to see where we are as of the end of this quarter relative to where we would expect to be and, over the course of a year, enables us to determine whether we are achieving the level of performance at the rate we expected.
   A green square is used when actual performance is at or is better than the prorated target, a yellow triangle represents performance within an acceptable range of the target (we are at least within 75 per cent of where we were expected to be), and a red circle shows where performance is beyond an acceptable range. A green square or yellow triangle can also be changed to a red circle if the trends indicate there is risk of not achieving our performance goals for the end of the year.
   Indicators measured annually rather than quarterly are evaluated against the year-end target, where performance within 10 per cent of the target is considered an acceptable range, resulting in a yellow triangle.
2. Consecutive Period Comparison (quarterly or semi-annual measures only): Here we compare each measure’s value to the previous reporting period, be it on a quarterly or semi-annual basis. A green square indicates we are doing better, a dashed line indicates no significant change (within 5 per cent), and a red circle indicates we are not doing as well.
3. Prior Year to date Comparison: Here we compare each measure’s year to date value to the previous year’s year to date value. A green square indicates we are doing better, a dashed line indicates no significant change (within 5 per cent), and a red circle indicates we are not doing as well.

In addition to the provincial dashboard, a Zone comparison dashboard has been included to allow for an at-a-glance view of performance against the Provincial targets across each Zone (the five geographies providing integrated health services).

Individual Zone dashboards are included as well (following the same format as the provincial dashboard), which present each Zone’s performance against the Provincial targets. It should be noted that some performance measures have not been allocated to the Zone level due to the nature of a provincial service delivery model.

Following the dashboard views, you also have access to one-page descriptions of each indicator with additional access to detailed definitions, comments on existing performance, actions being taken by AHS to improve performance, more detailed information by zone or site (as appropriate to the specific indicator), and other useful information.

Data lag

Data availability for quarterly updates varies due to data source differences. All but five of the quarterly performance measures in this report are updated to the third quarter (October-December, 2011). For those indicators reporting 2nd quarter data (July-September, 2011), the following table explains the reasons for the one quarter reporting lag:

Data updates

This report contains the most currently available data for all performance measures. In addition to those measures updated quarterly, several other measures are updated on a less frequent basis. These measures are detailed as follows with a timeline for their next anticipated update:

Data sources

Data included in this report come from Alberta Health Services, Alberta Health and Wellness, Health Quality Council of Alberta, and Statistics Canada.