title: Benchmarking for the competitive marketplace.
abstract: One would get little argument these days regarding the importance of performance measurement in the health care industry. The traditional approach has been the straightforward use of measurable units such as financial comparisons and clinical indicators (e.g., length of stay). Also we in the health care industry have traditionally benchmarked our performance and strategies against those most like ourselves. Today's competitive market demands a more customer-focused set of performance measures that go beyond traditional approaches such as customer service. The most important task in today's environment is to study the customers' emerging priorities and adjust our business to meet those priorities.
authors.affiliation: Arthur Andersen, LLP, Chicago, Illinois, USA.
authors.forename: R W
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Clarke
authors.forename: T O
authors.initials: TO
authors.lastname: Sucher
mesh_terms: D000553:Ambulatory Care / Q000191:economics / Q000592:standards*; D019985:Benchmarking; D004465:Economic Competition; D017598:Efficiency, Organizational; D010043:Outcome and Process Assessment, Health Care; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D011369:Professional-Patient Relations; D017749:Total Quality Management; D014481:United States