Step 2 - Opportunity Analysis

Once a needs assessment is complete, opportunity analysis can be undertaken to determine which areas of focus might best meet the current organisational and population requirements. An Opportunity analysis uses the data to identify opportunities to improve the quality, efficiency or equity of the care being delivered. Outputs from a needs assessment should be combined with opportunity analysis to produce areas of focus that are actionable to deliver improvements in defined population health outcomes.

Opportunity Analysis can be considered in the following ways:

  1. Detecting unwarranted variation within the system
  2. Detecting unwarranted variation between the system and its national (and international) peers
  3. Duplication analysis (e.g. which service users are receiving the same interventions twice unnecessarily?)
  4. Gap analysis (e.g. which evidence based practice is not being followed?)
  5. Weighted gap analysis (e.g. weighting these gaps according to how important they are)
  6. Quadruple Fail analysis (e.g. which events are occurring in the population that are simultaneously high cost, low quality, represent a poor patient experience and lead to increased inequalities?) – What is the distribution of these events across the population

STAR Tool for Opportunity Analysis

Star (Socio-Technical Allocation of Resources) is an innovative approach that supports commissioners’ budget prioritisation processes. By combining a technical value-for-money analysis with extensive stakeholder engagement and discussion, Star enables local commissioners to involve the wider community in the evaluation of a range of current or potential healthcare interventions. Star comprises a technical tool and a workshop-led process

Embedded Star tool and link to Website

Example Opportunity Analysis for E1/C2..to be developed and added here
Downloads