Designing Measures for Managing the Effectiveness for Integrated Service Delivery: The Case of a Geriatric Outpatient Clinic

Abstract

Health and social services are increasingly produced in cooperation among several specialized organizations. This has increased the importance of service integration in the sector. While the literature acknowledges the need for performance measurement addressing outcomes and effectiveness of service integration, not enough is known about applying such measurement practices. This paper examines the design of a performance measurement system to support the effectiveness management of an integrated service delivery. The research identifies three aspects of effectiveness – community, client and network level. Empirical examination reveals that success factors for design of measures for integrated service delivery include consensus on the targets, coordination and fluent cooperation among actors in the network. The paper contributes to performance measurement literature by illustrating how the design of system level measurement is carried out in practice and analyzing the lessons learned.