Putting Time in Perspective: An Integrated Graduate Medical Education Institutional Dashboard and Report Card.

BACKGROUND

ACGME-I requires sponsoring institutions (SIs) to have systematic oversight of program performance. This was initially carried out through annual review, however, maintaining compliance became a challenge for a large SI like Singapore Health Services (SingHealth) as the number of residency programs grew from 5 to 34 in 3 years.

OBJECTIVE

We assessed the impact of quarterly monitoring using a dashboard on graduate medical education (GME) program performance and institutional oversight.

METHODS

In 2014, the SingHealth GME Committee (GMEC) approved the dashboard covering 13 indicators with implication on program performance, resident/faculty performance, and finance. Indicators were given color-coded scoring for compliance, borderline compliance, or concern. From annual reporting, periodicity was increased quarterly with reports distributed to program directors, head of department, and academic clinical programs.

RESULTS

Since implementation, programs consistently met or exceeded compliance standards in 11 of 13 indicators (84%), with 7 indicators (63%) showing upward trends. Programs with borderline scores in particular quarters showed improvement in subsequent quarters. By 2015, percentage compliance for the 3 dimensions of residents' perspectives were 1 to 2 points higher than the national compliance average. Of 19 programs undergoing ACGME-I accreditation in 2014, only 4 had citations in the foundational requirement. Institutional citations were resolved, with 0 citations in the reaccreditation site visit in 2015.

CONCLUSIONS

For a large SI, increased periodicity of program performance reporting from annual to quarterly effectively addressed the gaps in a timely fashion. Institutional performance also improved through the use of quantitative data aligned with institution and national performance indicators.