How to evaluate your metric
By Duke Rohe
Performance Improvement Specialist
M.D. Anderson Cancer Center
Houston
- Can it answer the question "How do we know we got there?"
- Can the measure be traced to a strategic goal?
- Is it representative of the entire population?
- Is it statistically sound?
- Can it be electronically collected?
- Is the sampling a representative alternative to 100% collection?
- How often does it need to be resampled or rerun?
- Does it measure the entire process?
- Are there any inferences in the measure that need explanation?
- If there is not a direct measure, is there an indirect correlative alternate?
- If it’s a cycle time, are the start and the stop points clear?
- Who commits to collect and report the measure, and at what frequency?
- Who needs to receive the measure?
- How "fresh" does it need to be?
- Does it require interpretation to have meaning? If so, who will do it?
- Is it a process component piece of a larger measure?
- How can you ensure integrity of the measure over time?
- Can the measure be more useful as a flag in an exception report?
- Are special causes (out of limit points) fully explained?
- Is confidentiality appropriately secured?
- Can masking the data be more fitting, more acceptable?
- Does it cause action or provide assurance?
- Are the parameters known for when to stop the measure?
- Is the cost of producing the measure justified?
- Is the measure clear to all, or does it need an explanation in the graph?
- Is the data source(s) listed on the graph?
- Could other people/departments gain from the measure?
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