Quality report, first quarter 2022
Quality is difficult to measure, especially in the area of health and social care. Since 2017, Humana has been measuring and reporting on quality using our index, known as the Humana Quality Index (HQI). In 2021, work was undertaken to revise and develop the index and its underlying indicators. The new index began to be used in late 2021/early 2022, and the results of the new HQI for the first quarter of 2022 are now ready. Although some of the underlying measurement areas are the same as before, it is not possible to compare the overall results of the old and new index against one another. For this reason, a new benchmark was established for the HQI for the first quarter of 2022.
Quality measurement does not lead to any improvements in itself, but is used as a starting point for setting targets, making evaluations and implementing systematic improvement efforts within Humana. The results of the HQI are reviewed by management groups at every level of the company.
Humana's quality index largely provides indirect indicators of the quality of our operations’ efforts for customers and clients, as we primarily measure conditions that are indirectly assumed to have an effect on care. We will continue to work to establish indicators of direct quality of care, that is, those that show the actual effect of the efforts made for our customers and clients. The entire care industry in the Nordics is facing the same challenge, and Humana wants to be a leader in terms of quality measurement and evaluation.
Results of the Humana Quality Index, first quarter 2022
The results of the HQI in the first quarter of 2022 came to 73 (on a scale of 1–100). The quarter was affected by the pandemic, with many of Humana’s operations having to contend with high levels of sick leave – something that applied to all of the Nordic countries. Short-term sick leave in several business areas was between 7 and 8 percent. The business area with the highest HQI was Norway, at 85.
The number of individual plans followed up according to schedule came to 91 percent, the same outcome as in the previous quarter. The number of serious deviations reported to authorities during the quarter was 6, down from 9 in the previous quarter.
Humana’s customer satisfaction index, CSI, reached 85 percent, which is the same as in the previous quarter. This is in line with our established target, and represents a good result.