ANA Applauds National Voluntary Hospital Reporting Initiative

Nevada RNformation, May 2004

Washington, DC - The American Nurses Association (ANA) applauds the creation of the National Voluntary Hospital Reporting Initiative. ANA joined with AARP, the AFL-CIO and other organizations as partners with the American Hospital Association, the Federation of American Hospitals, and the Association of American Medical Colleges in launching a national voluntary initiative to collect and report hospital quality performance information. This effort is intended to make critical information about hospital performance accessible to the public and to inform and invigorate efforts to improve quality.

Ten measures are being tracked in three disease areas: heart attack, heart failure and pneumonia. As of February, more than 1,400 hospitals are sharing at least one of the clinical quality measures from the set of 10. More than 1,300 additional hospitals have .registered and pledged to publicly report their data.

ANA and its constituent members have long supported the reporting of hospital data. "The American Nurses Association is committed to the improvement of health care quality. The National Voluntary Hospital Reporting Initiative provides an avenue for the reporting of hospital quality information," said ANA President Barbara A. Blakeney, MS, APRN, BC, ANP.

"ANA looks forward to the1 reporting of data on additional measures, particularly those related to patient satisfaction with care," Blakeney said.

Additional information about the program may be found at: www.cms.hhs.gov/quality/hospital.>

Copyright Nevada Nurses Association May 2004

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