Dr Foster Intelligence has today launched a new informatics tool called, Mortality Comparator, which enables trusts and commissioners to view and understand the new Summary Hospital-level Mortality Indicator (SHMI) and how it compares to the established Hospital Standardised Mortality Ratio (HSMR). The tool launches the same day as the new SHMI is being published on NHS Choices and through the NHS Information Centre for the first time.
Dr Foster has been instrumental in helping to create the SHMI and is committed to helping hospital trusts better understand the measure and its relationship with the HSMR. Mortality Comparator builds on the bespoke SHMI reports that were made available to all acute trusts on the 25th October. The tool is available free of charge to all users of Dr Foster’s Real Time Monitoring (RTM) tool.
The main differences between the two measures are that:
• HSMRs reflect only deaths in hospital care where as SHMI also includes deaths occurring outside of hospital care within 30 days of discharge.
• The HSMR focuses on 56 diagnosis groups (about 80 per cent of in hospital deaths) where as SHMI includes all diagnosis groups (100 per cent of deaths)
• The HSMR makes allowances for palliative care where as the SHMI does not take palliative care into account.
The new Mortality Comparator tool enables RTM users to investigate and understand the new SHMI indicator, rapidly, easily and dynamically. It provides a detailed comparison with the HSMR and the summary values published by the NHS Information Centre for the financial year 2010/11, not only at a trust level, but also compared with national and chosen peers, to provide insights down to individual diagnosis group level. Key benefits include:
• Quickly understand any variation between a trust’s HSMR and SHMI and the causes of that variation
• A new user interface style enables rapid visual inspection and investigation and rapid drill-down to areas of interest
• Trusts can investigate and understand the impact of the inclusion of post-discharge mortality data
• Mortality Comparator provides the insight needed to embed SHMI within a trust’s mortality management programme, alongside other mortality indicators, such as HSMR and Deaths After Surgery.
- Ends –
For more information please contact:
Andrew Kliman, Senior Communications Manager at andrew.kliman@drfoster.co.uk
Tel: 0207 332 8837
Mob: 07824 906 276
Notes to editors:
1. Follow us on Twitter @DrFosterIntel for regular updates on hospital data, other data analysis, and news.
2. Dr Foster is the UK’s market-leading provider of information, analysis and targeted communications to health and social care organisations. An independent organisation, Dr Foster Intelligence was launched in 2006 and is a joint venture between Dr Foster Holdings LLP and the Department of Health. Dr Foster aims to set a new standard in information for health and social care providers and their users and is legally required to follow a code of conduct that prohibits political bias and requires it to act in the public interest.