New information available on hospital care quality

AORN Journal, Dec, 2005

Consumers can find out how well their local hospitals are performing by accessing new data available at the Hospital Compare web site, according to a Sept 2, 2005, news release from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. The consumer-oriented web site now reports on hospitals' preventative measures for surgical infections and includes information on up to four quarters of data from 2004.

The two new surgical infection prevention measures and a pneumonia measure bring the total number of measures on the Hospital Compare web site to 20. These include 10 clinical measures (ie, starter measures) that short-term, acute-care hospitals must agree to report publicly in order to receive the incentive payments created by the Medicare Modernization Act. There has been an increase in the number of hospitals reporting more than the 10 starter measures as well as in the information that hospitals are now providing. Of the 4,048 participating US hospitals,

* more than 70% are reporting all 17 of the quality measures introduced in April 2005,

* more than 90% are reporting at least the 10 starter measures,

* more than 80% are reporting the new pneumonia measure,

* more than 20% are reporting on the new surgical infection prevention measures, and

* more than 450 critical access hospitals that are not eligible for incentive payments are submitting data.

The 20 measures now available on the Hospital Compare website fall under the categories of heart attack (le, acute myocardial infarction), heart failure, pneumonia, and surgical infection prevention. To access the Hospital Compare web site, go to http://www.hospitalcompare.hhs.gov.

New Information on Hospital Care Quality Now Available at www.hospitatcompare.hhs.gov (news release, Baltimore: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Sept 2, 2005) http://www.cms.hhs.gov/media/press/release.asp?Counter=1545 (accessed 2 Sept 2005).