HQI’s Signal Detection Program produces quarterly reports on unusual shifts in diagnostic and patient safety events, providing a statewide snapshot of hospital quality and safety trends. In 2024, after analyzing varying sets of data — one rooted in practice breakdowns, the other in diagnostic data — HQI staff identified several persistent challenges for hospitals:
- Infection control breakdowns — from C. diff isolation lapses to environmental services delays and missed vaccinations — were flagged in both datasets.
- Patients leaving against medical advice, alongside rising social instability, suggest that unmet social needs may eclipse medical priorities, prompting premature departures despite clinical risk.
HQI encourages hospital leaders to use these data to improve both patient safety (the prevention of avoidable harm) and quality (the consistency, efficiency, and clinical efficacy of care delivery) in their facilities. A hospital may demonstrate strong quality performance metrics while simultaneously harboring a culture that discourages the reporting of safety concerns; the opposite may also be true.
To help hospitals understand both sides of their performance, this innovative program harnesses two advanced analytics platforms: The Hospital Quality Improvement Platform for quality benchmarking and CHPSODATA for patient safety. Together, they cut through the noise of busy hospital environments and surface meaningful signals.
Patient Safety Signals captured disruptions to care such as:
- Workplace violence and lateral aggression among staff
- Falls during unsupervised toileting
- Environmental service delays, as noted below
Hospital Quality Signals captured clinical realities, including:
- Seasonal surges: Heatstroke, dengue fever (see chart below), allergy-related emergency department visits
- Rising chronic burdens: sexually transmitted diseases, thalassemia, bundle branch blocks
- Social strain: increases in unstable housing, fractured families, and food insecurity
HQI urges hospital leaders to:
- Avoid conflating quality outcomes with the reliability of safe operations.
- Examine areas of alignment and divergence in signal data to identify consistent trends or discrepancies.
- Utilize multiple data sources for analysis including direct patient feedback such as Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and System (HCAHPS) scores, grievances, and experience data.
- Recognize that staff safety is a leading indicator of both patient safety and discharge outcomes.
For more information about HQI’s Signal Detection Program, or how HQI can help your organization provide safer, higher quality care, email info@hqinstitute.org.
