Step #3 Compare Benchmarks
Adjust benchmarks and provide reasonable comparables
One of the tremendous advantages to the Operational Benchmarking for GME approach is its reliance on benchmarks developed from an extensive database of residency program data. Although some hospitals may discount the effectiveness of benchmarking based on their unique characteristics, the fact remains that all residencies in the same specialty need to meet the same accreditation and regulatory requirements defined for that specialty. This means a coverage team in internal medicine will still have the same basic requirements – regardless of whether it has 18 residents in the program (small program) or 72 residents ( larger program). However, the real benefit of using benchmarks, created from a large residency database, is that it allows hospitals to compare their benchmarks to those hospitals with similar characteristics and gain valuable insight into any operational and educational improvement opportunities that might exist for each program.