Aligning efforts to improve quality
- Collection:
- Health Policy and Services Research
- Series Title(s):
- TrendWatch (American Hospital Association)
- Contributor(s):
- American Hospital Association, issuing body. Sappho Health Strategies, LLC, issuing body.
- Publication:
- Washington, DC : American Hospital Association, October 2018
- Language(s):
- English
- Format:
- Text
- Subject(s):
- Hospitals Quality Improvement Quality Indicators, Health Care Quality of Health Care Insurance, Health, Reimbursement Medicare Humans United States Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (U.S.)
- Genre(s):
- Technical Report
- Abstract:
- America's hospitals and health systems are committed to providing patients with high-quality, safe and person-centered care. Hospitals and health systems improve patient outcomes through quality measurement, quality improvement (QI) and adoption of hospital standards and best practices. Public policies around quality--especially the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' (CMS) quality reporting and pay-for-performance programs, Medicare and Medicaid Conditions of Participation (CoPs) and accrediting organizations' evaluations and various efforts to support process improvement--are critical to shaping and accelerating the field's efforts to make care better and safer. Changes in public policy, including increased transparency on quality, investment in the development of quality metrics and the sponsorship of collaboratives, such as the Hospital Improvement Innovation Network, have energized these efforts. But more needs to be done. As hospitals and health systems look to further improve care, they face significant challenges as a result of the burden imposed by current requirements and confusion because the policies are not aligned. A proliferation of quality measures, growing and unaddressed inconsistencies in reporting requirements for measures, and concerns about the validity of electronic clinical quality measures (eCQMs) threaten continued progress and, in some cases, have a negative impact on quality of care. Clinical experts and policymakers must identify meaningful measures that provide reliable, valid and actionable information to patients, providers and regulators and "drive the health system to higher performance." Similarly, CoPs outline include foundational requirements that ensure that patient care is appropriate and safe; however, significant work is necessary to ensure CoPs are evidence-based, do not conflict with requirements imposed by other authorities, and place challenging but realistic expectations on providers. Perhaps most importantly, policymakers often focus on measurement, quality improvement and CoPs in silos; however, the three areas are interrelated. The impact and influence of these elements on each other underscores the need to align measurement, QI and the CoPs in order to create a cohesive framework for advancing patient care. This TrendWatch report highlights the progress that hospitals and health systems have made in improving quality, the challenges that remain, and how policymakers can think strategically to align QI, measures and CoP policies.
- Copyright:
- Reproduced with permission of the copyright holder. Further use of the material is subject to CC BY-NC-ND license. (More information)
- Extent:
- 1 online resource (1 PDF file (13, 3 unnumbered pages))
- Illustrations:
- Illustrations
- NLM Unique ID:
- 101751783 (See catalog record)
- Permanent Link:
- http://resource.nlm.nih.gov/101751783