How hospitals can use internal benchmark data to create effective managed care arrangements.

Hospitals are now adopting benchmarking techniques, along with total quality management techniques, in order to provide employers with detailed data and process comparisons with hospital competitors. Traditionally, employers have relied on inpatient price and length of stay as primary measures of hospital performance. However, successful hospital benchmarking can expand those measures to include additional factors such as quality, value, and outcome. This article describes how hospitals can use internal benchmark data to create effective managed care arrangements with employers.