Joel Sauer explains the need for responsible data targets in cardiology

Cardiology leaders need to clearly define quality metrics and avoid allowing performance measures to become the goal rather than a tool for improving patient care. That's according to Joel Sauer, MBA, executive vice president of consulting at MedAxiom, an American College of Cardiology (ACC) company. He spoke to Cardiovascular Business for a video interview about how healthcare organizations can make the most out of the large amount of patient data being collected at all times.

At ACC.26, Sauer delivered a presentation about how Goodhart's Law is related to setting performance metrics in cardiovascular care. Goodhart's Law states that when a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure. This is because people will work to achieve that target, but often by sacrificing the purpose of the actual goal. Sauer pointed to hospital length of stay (LOS) as one of the clearest examples of this. Hospitals that become overly focused on reducing LOS may discharge patients before they are medically ready, he explained. While the organization may achieve a lower average LOS, the result could be higher readmission rates if a lot of patients are discharged prematurely.

Similarly, organizations striving to reduce readmissions may begin altering how patients are classified rather than addressing the actual underlying clinical issues.