Final answer:
Benchmarking involves seeking out best practices, comparing current and past internal performance, and against other organizations or competitors, encompassing all aspects mentioned in the options provided.
Step-by-step explanation:
Benchmarking refers to the process of seeking out best practices and setting performance improvement targets to match or exceed those practices. It often includes gathering information from customers and other stakeholders, which assists in understanding the standard of performance required to be successful in the industry or against competitors. Moreover, benchmarking can involve finding expert information to support performance improvements, as well as doing a root cause analysis to determine the underlying causes of performance gaps. The definition of benchmarking includes:
- Seeking out best practices and building performance improvement goals to meet or beat those best practices.
- Comparing your current internal performance data against past performance data, or comparison among different units or departments within an organization.
- Comparing your organization's specific metrics, such as aspiration pneumonia rates, with those of similar organizations or competitors, like stroke centers in your region.
Therefore, the answer to the question is D. All of the above.