Hospitals improve treatment of three conditions

AORN Journal, Sept, 2005

US hospitals have significantly improved the care of patients suffering from heart attacks, heart failure, and pneumonia in the last two years, according to a July 21, 2005, news release from the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO). A new study by JCAHO describes the use of 18 evidence-based, standardized measures to track hospital performance over time and stimulate continuous improvement through quarterly feedback about results. In July 2002, the Joint Commission implemented standardized performance measures that address giving aspirin to patients with acute myocardial infarction within 24 hours of admission and again at discharge and providing smoking cessation counseling for patients with heart failure or pneumonia.

Data for the study were collected from more than 3,000 JCAHO-accredited general acute care hospitals, and the three conditions studied are among the most common, high-risk reasons for hospitalization. The rate of improvement ranged from 3% to 33%, and improvement increased steadily during the two-year period of the study. The most dramatic improvements seen were for the three measures related to smoking cessation efforts. The research also showed that hospitals that were low-level performers at the beginning of the study tended to improve at faster rates than hospitals that began the study at higher Levels of performance.

Study: Hospitals Significantly Improve Treatment of Heart Attacks, Heart Failure, and Pneumonia (news release, Oakbrook Terrace, Ill: Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, July 21, 2005).