Public Reporting On Hospital Process Improvements Is Linked To Better Patient Outcomes
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services publicly reports so-called process performance at all U.S. hospitals, such as whether certain recommended treatments are given to specific types of patients. We examined whether hospital performance on key process indicators improved during the three years since this reporting began. We also studied whether or not these changes improved patient outcomes or yielded other quality improvements, such as reduced hospital readmission rates.
We found that, from 2004 to 2006, hospital process performance improved and was associated with better patient and quality outcomes. Most notably, for acute myocardial infarction, performance improvements were associated with declines in mortality rates, lengths-of-stay, and readmission rates. Although we cannot conclude that public reporting caused the improvement in processes or outcomes, these results are encouraging, since improving process performance may improve quality more broadly.
Wednesday, Jan. 12th 2011 4:29 PM at 4:29 pm
Federal Employer Resources Update: Training on How to Comply with Executive Order 13548 – January 20: Plan to attend this event to learn how to implement the Executive Order and to ensure that your agency’s plan is valuable, effective and ready to be submitted to OPM by March 8, 2011. Agency leadership, hiring managers, HR staffing specialists, Selective Placement Program Coordinators, Disability Program Managers and Reasonable Accommodation Coordinators are encouraged to attend. Register by January 19.