ATCEMS Performance Dashboard > MPDS Non-Compliance Rate per Month > Performance Measure Definition: MPDS Protocol Compliance (version 2018)
Performance Measure Definition: Medical Priority Dispatch System Protocol Compliance (version 2018)
Description: This indicator measures compliance to an international standard for triage of 911 calls and provision of pre-arrival instructions.
Desired Outcome:  Maintain the incidence of Non-Compliant cases below 8%, as required to maintain accreditation by International Academy of Emergency Dispatch (IAED).
Relevance:  Customers of EMS should be confident that each call received by EMS is treated the same and that a standard process is used to triage each call based upon a national standard.
Measure Domain: Operations
Type of Measure:  Process
Operational Specifications
Formula Description:  Compliance rates are calculated by dividing the count of cases in each compliance category by the count of cases reviewed.
Unit of Analysis:  Reviewed 911 calls (referred to as “cases”).
Population:
  • Numerator: Reviewed cases meeting inclusion criteria for each IAED classification level.
  • Denominator:  All calls reviewed through AQUA processes.
Measure Frequency:  Monthly
Minimum Population/Sample:  None
Performance Standard:  Compliance rates must be less than the values listed for the following compliance categories:
  • Non-Compliant: 8%
  • Low Compliance: 10%
  • Partial Compliance: 10%
The AQUA system returns values in whole percentage points (e.g., 7%).
Acceptable Quality Level:  Compliance may not fall below standard for more than two consecutive months or any three months in a year.
Interval Description:  None
Reporting Value(s):  Percent of reviewed 911 calls.
Aggregation: Performance can be aggregated over time by compliance level (e.g., quarterly, annually).
Stratification: Results are stratified by compliance levels used by the IAED:
  • High Compliance
  • Compliant
  • Partial Compliance
  • Low Compliance
  • Non-Compliant
Limitations:  Includes only incidents processed through MPDS. Excludes requests for assistance from other agencies, emergency transfers, attended patients, and rescue problem types.
Related Measures: This is the second version of Medical Priority Dispatch System Protocol Compliance. The first version (pre-2018) used an aggregated figure to measure compliance with IAED standards.
Notes:  AQUA is the Advanced Quality Assurance software package provided by Medical Priority Dispatch. ATCEMS uses this software to review cases and assess the performance of individual dispatchers and the system as a whole. AQUA provides standardized performance reports, including the values used for reporting this measure.
An upgrade of AQUA software in December 2018 eliminated reporting of the MPDS Compliance figure that formed the basis of the previous version of this indicator, thereby requiring creation of the new version of this indicator.
Reporting
ATCEMS Open Performance Dashboard
City of Austin Open Data Portal
City of Austin Performance Measures Database 
  • Performance Measure:  pending 
  • Orientation: External 
  • Aggregation Level: Fiscal quarter
  • Update Frequency: Quarterly

References
Interlocal Agreement Between the City of Austin and Travis County for Emergency Medical Services (Fiscal Year 2014)
International Academies of Emergency Dispatch (IAED). (2013). EMD-Q Performance Standards (ed. 9a). Salt Lake City, UT.
Metadata
Development Status:  Actively reporting
Definition Version: Version E
Revision Date: 2018-03-02
Revised By:  David Andersen