To read this content please select one of the options below:

Dissemination of performance information and continuous improvement: A narrative systematic review

Marc Lemire (Health Administration Department, University of Montreal,Montreal, Canada)
Olivier Demers‐Payette (Health Administration Department, University of Montreal,Montreal, Canada)
Justin Jefferson‐Falardeau (Health Administration Department, University of Montreal,Montreal, Canada)

Journal of Health Organization and Management

ISSN: 1477-7266

Article publication date: 2 August 2013

1343

Abstract

Purpose

Developing a performance measure and reporting the results to support decision making at an individual level has yielded poor results in many health systems. The purpose of this paper is to highlight the factors associated with the dissemination of performance information that generate and support continuous improvement in health organizations.

Design/methodology/approach

A systematic data collection strategy that includes empirical and theoretical research published from 1980 to 2010, both qualitative and quantitative, was performed on Web of Science, Current Contents, EMBASE and MEDLINE. A narrative synthesis method was used to iteratively detail explicative processes that underlie the intervention. A classification and synthesis framework was developed, drawing on knowledge transfer and exchange (KTE) literature. The sample consisted of 114 articles, including seven systematic or exhaustive reviews.

Findings

Results showed that dissemination in itself is not enough to produce improvement initiatives. Successful dissemination depends on various factors, which influence the way collective actors react to performance information such as the clarity of objectives, the relationships between stakeholders, the system's governance and the available incentives.

Research limitations/implications

This review was limited to the process of knowledge dissemination in health systems and its utilization by users at the health organization level. Issues related to improvement initiatives deserve more attention.

Practical implications

Knowledge dissemination goes beyond better communication and should be considered as carefully as the measurement of performance. Choices pertaining to intervention should be continuously prompted by the concern to support organizational action.

Originality/value

While considerable attention was paid to the public reporting of performance information, this review sheds some light on a more promising avenue for changes and improvements, notably in public health systems.

Keywords

Citation

Lemire, M., Demers‐Payette, O. and Jefferson‐Falardeau, J. (2013), "Dissemination of performance information and continuous improvement: A narrative systematic review", Journal of Health Organization and Management, Vol. 27 No. 4, pp. 449-478. https://doi.org/10.1108/JHOM-08-2011-0082

Publisher

:

Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2013, Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Related articles