Performance Indicators and Clinical Monitoring: Useful Measures for Improving Quality and Reducing Costs in Healthcare Organizations

In the last few years, increasing attention was captured by the question related to evaluating the performance and to monitoring the clinical activity in the healthcare organizations. Besides to show how accreditation and certification processes have to be performed, recent researches assess the healthcare performance in order to check their efficiency and effectiveness. Such capability is described as the competence to contribute with treatments improving the patient’s health. This study, dealing with scientific and technological developments, screening programs and well-defined indications for accessing to minimally invasive surgery, focuses on techniques for identifying, through a clinical audit process, the criteria and key performance indicators useful for assessing whether the indication for minimally invasive endovascular surgical treatment was performed in the right way. The research, after having introduced readers to the wide contest on measuring strategies, performance, outcomes indicators and clinical monitoring, aims attention at the clinical audit involving to explain the concept of quality of care in the vascular and endovascular surgery area. Sub-objectives were: (1) verify if according to the evidence-based recommendations, the indication for minimally invasive treatment for EVAR and TEVAR is appropriate; and (2) evaluate the performance of minimally invasive treatment. The results will be able to guide professionals to prescribe the right care to the patient and reduce costs. In conclusion, to confirm the feasibility of performance indicators and clinical monitoring, a practical application defining criteria and indicators for evaluating the indication for the minimally invasive treatment and for assessing the performance of the procedure is proposed.