Qualis to study emergency department patient safety - Industry Scan: In the News - Qualis Health receives research contract from Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services - Brief Article

Healthcare Financial Management, Jan, 2003

Qualis Health of Seattle, a not-for-profit healthcare quality improvement organization, has been awarded a contract with CMS to conduct a one-year patient safety study focused on emergency department care provided to Medicare beneficiaries.

Qualis will first study a population comprising Medicare beneficiaries who have made repeated visits to receive care in an emergency department. The federal government routinely collects data on emergency department visits, and these data will be reviewed to determine which information, if any, could be used to produce targeted patient safety interventions, patient education, and public reporting.

One goal of the project is to evaluate these data to identify indicators of emergency department use for healthcare planning. Another goal will be to determine whether measures can be developed that identify quality-of-care and patient safety outcomes. Current national reporting by CMS includes care provided by dialysis facilities, nursing homes, and health plans.

Qualis will survey published and current work in the field of emergency medicine. A 12-member technical expert panel will be selected from national organizations involved in emergency care, as well as the federal government and other interested parties.

Panel members will work with Qualis researchers to develop standard deviations for the populations, identify possible indicators or measures from the currently available data, help refine the information, and complete a report to CMS in September 2003.

To read more about the study, go to www.qualishealth.org.