Making the Grade
For those of us who are baby-boomers and old enough to remember, taking a bad report card home engendered a great deal of fear and trepidation, during what seemed an endless walk or school bus ride home. Perhaps that is the way hospital CEOs currently look at the issue of transparency and public disclosure, as they closely guard their respective institutions’ financial and clinical secrets, and damn or withhold any revelation destined to transform stockholders into what amounts to angry parents.
Healthcare consumers, the U.S. federal government, and third-party payers, however, demand the highest standard of care from our nation’s hospitals, as well as reliable performance measures to assure quality. Furthermore, such measures must be applicable to all hospitals, whether they reside in the high-tier or low-tier category. There is much evidence to support the contention that hospital report cards, based on objective performance measures, improve the overall healthcare of patients.
The Hospital Quality Alliance (HQA), based on provisions in the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement and Modernization Act (MMA) of 2003 and instituted by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), was, indeed, initiated precisely to that end. By collecting data on key measures of hospitals’ management and quality of care (for example, the care provided, the resources consumed, the total costs of care, and the resulting outcomes), the HQA can tabulate report cards to motivate change and hopefully improve overall patient healthcare. Also, the recently proposed Deficit Reduction Act (DRA) of 2005, by instituting financial incentives to entice our nation’s hospitals to “make the grade” by adhering to established measures of performance, and expanding them when necessary, serves as an additional built-in safeguard to our nation’s health.
High performance scores on HQA performance indicators have been associated with up to 15 percent reductions in the odds of death for common clinical conditions such as acute myocardial infarction, congestive heart failure, and pneumonia. So, the initial results are in, and perhaps only a bit of tweaking and several more performance indicators are required before hospital report cards become a diffuse functioning reality.
Who would have ever thought that the long bus ride home would be good for one’s health!
Healthcare consumers, the U.S. federal government, and third-party payers, however, demand the highest standard of care from our nation’s hospitals, as well as reliable performance measures to assure quality. Furthermore, such measures must be applicable to all hospitals, whether they reside in the high-tier or low-tier category. There is much evidence to support the contention that hospital report cards, based on objective performance measures, improve the overall healthcare of patients.
The Hospital Quality Alliance (HQA), based on provisions in the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement and Modernization Act (MMA) of 2003 and instituted by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), was, indeed, initiated precisely to that end. By collecting data on key measures of hospitals’ management and quality of care (for example, the care provided, the resources consumed, the total costs of care, and the resulting outcomes), the HQA can tabulate report cards to motivate change and hopefully improve overall patient healthcare. Also, the recently proposed Deficit Reduction Act (DRA) of 2005, by instituting financial incentives to entice our nation’s hospitals to “make the grade” by adhering to established measures of performance, and expanding them when necessary, serves as an additional built-in safeguard to our nation’s health.
High performance scores on HQA performance indicators have been associated with up to 15 percent reductions in the odds of death for common clinical conditions such as acute myocardial infarction, congestive heart failure, and pneumonia. So, the initial results are in, and perhaps only a bit of tweaking and several more performance indicators are required before hospital report cards become a diffuse functioning reality.
Who would have ever thought that the long bus ride home would be good for one’s health!
© 2009, Albert M. Balesh, M.D. All rights reserved.
posted by Dr. Al at
4/19/2009 01:27:00 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home