| Measures of Quality
How outside organizations report on our quality
Awards, Accreditations, Certifications, Verifications
Hospital Compare Web Site on Hospital Performance
Hospital Quality Improvement Project
Health Plans Quality Scorecards
Awards, Accreditations, Certifications, Verifications
TriHealth and its hospitals have won more than 50 awards in recent years for:
- superior performance in overall care
- excellence in specialty areas
TriHealth currently holds 79 accreditations, certifications and verifications for programs and services. Many are acquired by meeting rigorous standards of quality.
Here are a few of the more prominent accreditations and awards TriHealth has been granted:
Joint Commission Accreditation
In 2007, The Joint Commission awarded three-year accreditations to Good Samaritan Hospital, Bethesda North Hospital and Hospice of Cincinnati. The Joint Commission is the nation’s predominant standards-setting and accrediting body in health care.
Ongoing practices for patient care areas to meet or exceed Joint Commission standards at all times include:
- weekly self-assessments to evaluate fundamentals such as hand washing and pain assessment.
- monthly learning opportunities for health care providers
- informal audits of compliance and processes by employee teams
- internal performance reviews and external consultant reviews
- monthly Quality/Safety/Service Steering Committee meetings to address the top 100 priorities as determined by TriHealth
Visit Quality Check®, www.qualitycheck.org to view the Joint Commission's guide to the nearly 15,000 Joint Commission-accredited health care organizations and programs in the U.S.
100 Top Hospitals
In 2007, Bethesda North Hospital and Good Samaritan Hospital received recognition as two of the nation's 100 Top Hospitals for:
- excellence in clinical outcomes
- patient safety
- financial performance
- efficiency
Thomson Healthcare, a leading provider of health information and trends, recognized Bethesda North Hospital for the fourth straight year and Good Samaritan Hospital for the first time. Thomson studied eight patient safety measures. Its analysts concluded that the top 100 hospitals saved $253 million and 7,914 lives as compared to other U.S. hospitals during the time period examined.
Top 100 Integrated Health Networks
TriHealth was named 25th in the nation's "Top 100 Integrated Healthcare Networks" in 2007 by Verispan, an Integrated Health Network rating system. This validates our effective use of information systems in delivering health care. Quality and patient safety increasingly rely on technology to ensure safety and prevent errors.
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Hospital Compare Web Site on Hospital Performance
Hospital Compare, http://hospitalcompare.hhs.gov, is a consumer-oriented Web site that allows you to compare the performance of hospitals across the country. Information on Bethesda North and Good Samaritan hospitals is listed on this Web site. The Web site was created by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), along with the Hospital Quality Alliance (HQA).
Hospital Compare provides consumers with three types of data to help them make decisions about choosing a hospital:
- quality information
- patient survey information
- pricing information for specific procedures
Consumers can find the following information on Hospital Compare:
- Hospital Process of Care Measures - Reports how often a hospital gives recommended treatments for certain conditions and procedures
- Hospital Outcome of Care Measures - Shows results of care or treatment for certain conditions or procedures
- Survey of Patients' Hospital Experiences - Provides comments from patients on the care they received during a recent hospital stay
- Medicare Payment and Volume - Reports average Medicare payment to hospitals for certain conditions or procedures, plus the number of Medicare patients treated for certain conditions.
Process of Care and Outcome of Care Measures currently are applied to four diagnoses:
- acute myocardial infarction (heart attack)
- heart failure
- pneumonia
- care of the surgical patient
Survey of Patients' Hospital Experiences
Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) is the survey that measures patients' perceptions of their hospital experiences and their care. Only acute care inpatients discharged from medical, surgical and maternity units receive the survey. In July 2007, TriHealth adopted this survey. When surveys identify weaknesses, the staff creates plans to improve those areas.
The survey questions rate these and other categories of the hospital experience:
- nurse and doctor communications
- hospital cleanliness and quiet
- pain management
- discharge information.
HCAHPS participation is voluntary. The survey system is endorsed by:
- major hospital associations
- government agencies
- consumer groups
- accrediting bodies
- other stakeholders who share a common interest in hospital quality.
Medicare Payment and Volume
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services also has added information about volume and Medicare reimbursement for certain elective hospital procedures.
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Hospital Quality Improvement Project (HQIP)
Greater Cincinnati residents can compare data on local hospitals at www.gchc.org. This Web site of the Greater Cincinnati Health Council (GCHC) reveals participating hospitals' data for three of the most common and costly adult medical conditions:
- acute myocardial infarction (heart attack)
- heart failure
- pneumonia
Users can find out how often hospitals:
- follow eight recommended care guidelines for heart attack
- follow four recommended guidelines for
heart failure
- follow nine recommended guidelines for pneumonia.
In addition, the Web site reports:
- average length of stay for nine conditions, including heart attack, stroke and pneumonia
- mortality (death rates) for the same nine conditions.
The 20 participating hospitals, including Bethesda North and Good Samaritan, participate voluntarily. They are using the report’s findings to improve the community’s safety and standardize care.
The Hospital Quality Improvement Project, an initiative of the Greater Cincinnati Health Council (GCHC) and the Ohio Hospital Association, uses data from 2006. Data for 2007 will be posted in the fall. Then, the site will be updated annually.
From 2005 to 2006, performance results for all participating hospitals improved for both acute myocardial infarction and heart failure. Results for pneumonia were not available in 2005, so they could not be compared.
Greater Cincinnati hospitals made the most significant improvement in providing discharge instructions to
heart failure patients: from 59 percent of patients in 2005 to 79 percent in 2006.
The GCHC Web site features background information about measures and rankings, as well as links to related Web sites.
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Health Plans Quality Scorecards
Health plans are ever mindful of the care delivery and outcomes of the patients covered by the insurance plans. TriHealth has systems in place to report information to the health plans in the form of quality scorecards to ensure evidence-based practices are maintained. TriHealth believes this monitoring improves the health of the community by helping us understand our status compared to others.
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