The American Hospital Association announced the new Dick Davidson Quality Milestone Award to recognize hospital associations’ leadership in improving healthcare quality. The award will be presented annually to a hospital association that demonstrates leadership and innovation in healthcare quality improvement and contributes to national healthcare improvement efforts. The first award will be given at the 2011 AHA/Health Forum Leadership Summit in July.
“The Dick Davidson Quality Milestone Award will highlight innovative state, regional and metropolitan hospital association efforts that help hospitals improve quality of care,” said AHA President Rich Umbdenstock. “Hospital associations have contributed to nationwide efforts to improve healthcare quality for patients. The AHA is proud to recognize the outstanding work they do and will work to help others learn from their success.”
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Showing posts with label Quality Healthcare. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Quality Healthcare. Show all posts
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Thursday, December 16, 2010
PSQH Notes From Institute For Healthcare Improvement
In recent years, the Institute for Healthcare Improvement’s (IHI) National Forum — held in Orlando in early December — has become for me as much a harbinger of the holiday season as leftover Thanksgiving turkey, the media’s obsession with Black Friday, and the dark, cold afternoons of early winter in New England. My trip to Orlando this year offered both new and familiar experiences.
This was IHI’s 22nd National Forum and the first held without founder and original CEO and President Don Berwick, serving now in Washington, DC, as head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). The Forum provided an interesting snapshot of IHI’s transition to the post-Berwick era. On the one hand, many IHI regulars keenly missed Berwick’s unmistakable presence, which for many embodied the organization. On the other hand, more than half of the 5,800 who attended the Forum in person (15,000 attended via webcast) were there for the first time. Not distracted by memories of Berwick, they will associate the opening keynote early on Tuesday morning—always a highly anticipated, signature Berwick moment—with Maureen Bisognano, Berwick’s successor as CEO and president, who told her family’s compelling story of loss due to medical error and called on attendees to join efforts to improve public health, decrease cost, and improve quality: IHI’s Triple Aim.
The Triple Aim is a comprehensive approach to improving healthcare, which emphasizes the health of individuals and the community while decreasing cost. The Triple Aim emphasizes effective care coordination and efficient, patient-centered delivery of care, which in many cases will mean less care, less cost, and more health. It’s no coincidence that the Triple Aim dovetails nicely with healthcare reform legislation in the United States. The Triple Aim may not be well known by name, but IHI has been developing the concept and supporting programs that advance its principles for at least 5 years.
To learn more about the Triple Aim, see IHI’s website and the Commonwealth Fund’s report on three organizations that have been implementing the Triple Aim for some time. IHI’s website also offers a video clip from Bisognano’s address and other materials related to the Forum.
I began to learn principles of the Triple Aim during workshop sessions at the National Forum in 2006. In 2007, I attended an all-day “minicourse” on the Triple Aim taught by Don Berwick and IHI Senior Fellow and Board member, Tom Nolan, one of the Triple Aim’s chief architects. IHI offers the minicourse program on the day before the official beginning of the conference, and it has become my favorite part of the Forum. It’s an unmatched opportunity to spend a full day (8:30 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.) participating with a room full of experienced, committed learners in an interactive program taught by top-level experts.
To read the full column please visit Patient Safety & Quality Healthcare-http://www.psqh.com/online-articles/717-aiming-at-improvement.html
This was IHI’s 22nd National Forum and the first held without founder and original CEO and President Don Berwick, serving now in Washington, DC, as head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). The Forum provided an interesting snapshot of IHI’s transition to the post-Berwick era. On the one hand, many IHI regulars keenly missed Berwick’s unmistakable presence, which for many embodied the organization. On the other hand, more than half of the 5,800 who attended the Forum in person (15,000 attended via webcast) were there for the first time. Not distracted by memories of Berwick, they will associate the opening keynote early on Tuesday morning—always a highly anticipated, signature Berwick moment—with Maureen Bisognano, Berwick’s successor as CEO and president, who told her family’s compelling story of loss due to medical error and called on attendees to join efforts to improve public health, decrease cost, and improve quality: IHI’s Triple Aim.
The Triple Aim is a comprehensive approach to improving healthcare, which emphasizes the health of individuals and the community while decreasing cost. The Triple Aim emphasizes effective care coordination and efficient, patient-centered delivery of care, which in many cases will mean less care, less cost, and more health. It’s no coincidence that the Triple Aim dovetails nicely with healthcare reform legislation in the United States. The Triple Aim may not be well known by name, but IHI has been developing the concept and supporting programs that advance its principles for at least 5 years.
To learn more about the Triple Aim, see IHI’s website and the Commonwealth Fund’s report on three organizations that have been implementing the Triple Aim for some time. IHI’s website also offers a video clip from Bisognano’s address and other materials related to the Forum.
I began to learn principles of the Triple Aim during workshop sessions at the National Forum in 2006. In 2007, I attended an all-day “minicourse” on the Triple Aim taught by Don Berwick and IHI Senior Fellow and Board member, Tom Nolan, one of the Triple Aim’s chief architects. IHI offers the minicourse program on the day before the official beginning of the conference, and it has become my favorite part of the Forum. It’s an unmatched opportunity to spend a full day (8:30 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.) participating with a room full of experienced, committed learners in an interactive program taught by top-level experts.
To read the full column please visit Patient Safety & Quality Healthcare-http://www.psqh.com/online-articles/717-aiming-at-improvement.html
Friday, December 3, 2010
Cardinal Health Foundation Announces Funding For Patient Safety and Quality Healthcare
The Cardinal Health Foundation announced that, for the third consecutive year, it has awarded more than $1 million in grant funding to help U.S. hospitals, health systems and community health clinics improve the efficiency and quality of healthcare.
Forty organizations in 25 states have been awarded grants ranging from $7,500 up to $37,500 as part of the 2010 Cardinal Health Foundation E3 Grant Program, which was launched in 2008 to improve the effectiveness, efficiency and excellence of health care, nationwide.
Since the grant program’s inception, the Cardinal Health Foundation has awarded 108 grants totaling more than $3 million to help hospitals, health systems and clinics implement evidence-based best practices that improve patient safety and the cost effectiveness of health care.
The 2010 E3 Grant Program encouraged applicants to submit funding requests for projects that will either improve medication management or improve efficiency and patient safety within the operating room. A full list of winners in each category is provided below.
The Cardinal Health Foundation also this year invited E3 Grant Program applicants to apply for scholarships to attend professional development programs hosted by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI). As a result, the Cardinal Health Foundation awarded scholarships to help individuals from 37 heath care facilities attend IHI professional development programs that will teach them how to create a culture of patient safety within their organizations.
“By improving medication and operating room safety and efficiency, health care providers can dramatically reduce health care costs and even more importantly, they can save lives,” said Shelley Bird, executive vice president of public affairs for Cardinal Health and chairperson of the Cardinal Health Foundation. “The Cardinal Health Foundation is proud to support the innovative work of our 2010 E3 Grant Program winners, and we believe their efforts will lead to direct and long-lasting improvements in health care efficiency, cost-effectiveness and quality.”
Organizations that received 2010 E3 Grant Program funding for medication management projects:
* Antelope Memorial Hospital; Neleigh, Neb.; Computerized Physician Order Entry and Barcode-Enabled Point-of-Care Systems
* Baptist Health’s Institute for Patient Safety and Medical Simulation; Montgomery, Ala.; The Impact of Error Prevention Technique Testing in a Simulation Laboratory
* St. Joseph’s Hospital & Medical Center; Phoenix, Ariz.; Simulation for Safe Medication Processes
* CentraState Healthcare Foundation; Freehold, N.J.; “The White Vest Study” (preventing nurse interruptions while administering medication)
* Community Health Network Foundation; Indianapolis, Ind.; Improving Medication Reconciliation Practices at Discharge
* Clovis Medical Center; Fresno, Calif.; Utilization of Pharmacy Technicians in the Medication Reconciliation Process
* Eastern Maine Healthcare Systems; Brewer, Maine; Reaching Out for Your Safety—FDA Alerts in Primary Care
* El Rio Community Health Center; Tucson, Ariz.; Improving Medication Safety by Providing Pharmacists with Patient Diagnosis on Electronic Prescription Orders
* FirstHealth Moore Regional Hospital; Pinehurst, N.C.; The Effectiveness of Hourly Rounding on Patient Safety, Satisfaction and Nursing Workload
* Forsyth Medical Center Foundation; Winston-Salem, N.C.; Safe Med Plus: An Innovative Medication Reconciliation / Patient Safety Program to Reduce Hospital Readmissions
* Ingham Regional Medical Center; Lansing, Mich.; Care Transitions Initiative
* Kansas University Endowment Association; Kansas City, Kan.; A Dedicated Pharmacist to Improve Medication Safety and the Quality of the Discharge Process and Decrease Readmissions
* Lahey Clinic; Burlington, Mass.; Lahey Clinic Medication Reconciliation Partnership Project
* Bassett Medical Center; Cooperstown, N.Y.; Anticoagulation Management Service Systems Expansion
* Natchaug Hospital; Mansfield, Conn.; NetSmart Infoscriber Initiative for Community-based Program EMR
* National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship; Silver Spring, Md.; Oral Medicine Adherence Education Program
* Nationwide Children’s Hospital Foundation; Columbus, Ohio; Reduction of Adverse Drug Events via a Critical Care Collaborative (Phase II)
* Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center; Niagara Falls, N.Y.; Bedside Medication Administration
* Paynesville Area Health Care System; Paynesville, Minn.; Bridging Medication Reconciliation Gaps in Our Community
* Rush University Medical Center; Chicago, Ill.; Care Trans-IT: An Informatics Tool to Facilitate Medication Reconciliation During Care Transitions
* Mercy Willard Hospital; Willard, Ohio; Pharmacist-Lead Diabetes Management Outpatient/Inpatient Service
* St. Aloisius Medical Center; Harvey, N.D.; Medication Safety Grant
* Suburban Hospital; Bethesda, Md.; Dedicated Pharmacist for the Hospitalist Program
* Cleveland Clinic Foundation; Cleveland, Ohio; Evaluation of Two Patient Education Methods for Patient Knowledge, Clinical Outcomes and Associated Costs in Patients Recently Started on Warfarin
* Health Care Improvement Foundation; Philadelphia, Pa.; A Regional Demonstration Project to Improve Safe Use of HYDROmorphone
* The Institute for Family Health; New York, N.Y.; Preventing Medication-Related Birth Defects Using Electronic Health Records
* Wayne State University; Detroit, Mich.; Comparison of Outpatient Medication Prescription Error Rates in a Pediatric Emergency Department Pre and Post Electronic Medication Error Alert System
* Wellmont Health System; Kingsport, Tenn.; Pharmacy Technician-Based Medication Reconciliation Program Pilot Study
Organizations that received 2010 E3 Grant Program funding for projects that will improve operating room safety and efficiency:
* CAMC Institute; Charleston, W.Va.; Vascular Surgical Antibiotic Prophylaxis Study (VSAPS)
* Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center; Cincinnati, Ohio; Developing Procedural Competency through Video-Assisted Assessment of Pediatric Airway Management
* Grady Health System Foundation; Atlanta, Ga.; Operating Room Safety
* Health Alliance of the Hudson Valley; Kingston, N.Y.; Operating Room ‘Culture of Safety’ at Health Alliance of the Hudson Valley
* Holy Spirit Health System; Camp Hill, Pa.; Lean Healthcare: Improving efficiency and patient flow in the Operating Room
* Johns Hopkins Heath System; Baltimore, Md.; Prevention of Surgical Site Infections Utilizing Intra-Operative Cameras to Improve Operative Practices
* Memorial Hermann Healthcare System; Houston, Texas; Impact of SSCL Use on Surgical Complications
* Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center; New York, N.Y.; Multiphase Targeted Intervention to Increase Staff Communication of Patient and Safety Concerns in the Operating Room
* Rhode Island Hospital; Providence, R.I.; Marking in the Universal Protocol: Enhancing Time-Outs (MUP-ET)
* Saint Alphonsus Family Maternity Center; Boise, Idaho; Labor & Delivery Universal Surgical Team
* Saint Peter’s University Hospital; New Brunswick, N.J.; Streamlining the Patient Preoperative Process
* University of Alabama at Birmingham; Birmingham, Ala.; Perioperative Patient Throughput
About the Cardinal Health Foundation
The Cardinal Health Foundation supports local, national and international programs that improve health care quality and build healthy communities. The Cardinal Health Foundation also offers grants to encourage employee service to the community and works through international agencies to donate much-needed medical supplies and funding to those who need them in times of disaster. To learn more, visit cardinalhealth.com/community.
About Cardinal Health
www.psqh.com
Headquartered in Dublin, Ohio, Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE: CAH) is a $99 billion health care services company that improves the cost-effectiveness of health care. As the business behind health care, Cardinal Health helps pharmacies, hospitals, ambulatory surgery centers and physician offices focus on patient care while reducing costs, improving efficiency and quality, and increasing profitability. Cardinal Health is an essential link in the health care supply chain, providing pharmaceuticals and medical products to more than 60,000 locations each day. The company is also a leading manufacturer of medical and surgical products, including gloves, surgical apparel and fluid management products. In addition, the company supports the growing diagnostic industry by supplying medical products to clinical laboratories and operating the nation's largest network of radiopharmacies that dispense products to aid in the early diagnosis and treatment of disease. Ranked #17 on the Fortune 500, Cardinal Health employs more than 30,000 people worldwide. More information about the company may be found at cardinalhealth.com.
Forty organizations in 25 states have been awarded grants ranging from $7,500 up to $37,500 as part of the 2010 Cardinal Health Foundation E3 Grant Program, which was launched in 2008 to improve the effectiveness, efficiency and excellence of health care, nationwide.
Since the grant program’s inception, the Cardinal Health Foundation has awarded 108 grants totaling more than $3 million to help hospitals, health systems and clinics implement evidence-based best practices that improve patient safety and the cost effectiveness of health care.
The 2010 E3 Grant Program encouraged applicants to submit funding requests for projects that will either improve medication management or improve efficiency and patient safety within the operating room. A full list of winners in each category is provided below.
The Cardinal Health Foundation also this year invited E3 Grant Program applicants to apply for scholarships to attend professional development programs hosted by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI). As a result, the Cardinal Health Foundation awarded scholarships to help individuals from 37 heath care facilities attend IHI professional development programs that will teach them how to create a culture of patient safety within their organizations.
“By improving medication and operating room safety and efficiency, health care providers can dramatically reduce health care costs and even more importantly, they can save lives,” said Shelley Bird, executive vice president of public affairs for Cardinal Health and chairperson of the Cardinal Health Foundation. “The Cardinal Health Foundation is proud to support the innovative work of our 2010 E3 Grant Program winners, and we believe their efforts will lead to direct and long-lasting improvements in health care efficiency, cost-effectiveness and quality.”
Organizations that received 2010 E3 Grant Program funding for medication management projects:
* Antelope Memorial Hospital; Neleigh, Neb.; Computerized Physician Order Entry and Barcode-Enabled Point-of-Care Systems
* Baptist Health’s Institute for Patient Safety and Medical Simulation; Montgomery, Ala.; The Impact of Error Prevention Technique Testing in a Simulation Laboratory
* St. Joseph’s Hospital & Medical Center; Phoenix, Ariz.; Simulation for Safe Medication Processes
* CentraState Healthcare Foundation; Freehold, N.J.; “The White Vest Study” (preventing nurse interruptions while administering medication)
* Community Health Network Foundation; Indianapolis, Ind.; Improving Medication Reconciliation Practices at Discharge
* Clovis Medical Center; Fresno, Calif.; Utilization of Pharmacy Technicians in the Medication Reconciliation Process
* Eastern Maine Healthcare Systems; Brewer, Maine; Reaching Out for Your Safety—FDA Alerts in Primary Care
* El Rio Community Health Center; Tucson, Ariz.; Improving Medication Safety by Providing Pharmacists with Patient Diagnosis on Electronic Prescription Orders
* FirstHealth Moore Regional Hospital; Pinehurst, N.C.; The Effectiveness of Hourly Rounding on Patient Safety, Satisfaction and Nursing Workload
* Forsyth Medical Center Foundation; Winston-Salem, N.C.; Safe Med Plus: An Innovative Medication Reconciliation / Patient Safety Program to Reduce Hospital Readmissions
* Ingham Regional Medical Center; Lansing, Mich.; Care Transitions Initiative
* Kansas University Endowment Association; Kansas City, Kan.; A Dedicated Pharmacist to Improve Medication Safety and the Quality of the Discharge Process and Decrease Readmissions
* Lahey Clinic; Burlington, Mass.; Lahey Clinic Medication Reconciliation Partnership Project
* Bassett Medical Center; Cooperstown, N.Y.; Anticoagulation Management Service Systems Expansion
* Natchaug Hospital; Mansfield, Conn.; NetSmart Infoscriber Initiative for Community-based Program EMR
* National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship; Silver Spring, Md.; Oral Medicine Adherence Education Program
* Nationwide Children’s Hospital Foundation; Columbus, Ohio; Reduction of Adverse Drug Events via a Critical Care Collaborative (Phase II)
* Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center; Niagara Falls, N.Y.; Bedside Medication Administration
* Paynesville Area Health Care System; Paynesville, Minn.; Bridging Medication Reconciliation Gaps in Our Community
* Rush University Medical Center; Chicago, Ill.; Care Trans-IT: An Informatics Tool to Facilitate Medication Reconciliation During Care Transitions
* Mercy Willard Hospital; Willard, Ohio; Pharmacist-Lead Diabetes Management Outpatient/Inpatient Service
* St. Aloisius Medical Center; Harvey, N.D.; Medication Safety Grant
* Suburban Hospital; Bethesda, Md.; Dedicated Pharmacist for the Hospitalist Program
* Cleveland Clinic Foundation; Cleveland, Ohio; Evaluation of Two Patient Education Methods for Patient Knowledge, Clinical Outcomes and Associated Costs in Patients Recently Started on Warfarin
* Health Care Improvement Foundation; Philadelphia, Pa.; A Regional Demonstration Project to Improve Safe Use of HYDROmorphone
* The Institute for Family Health; New York, N.Y.; Preventing Medication-Related Birth Defects Using Electronic Health Records
* Wayne State University; Detroit, Mich.; Comparison of Outpatient Medication Prescription Error Rates in a Pediatric Emergency Department Pre and Post Electronic Medication Error Alert System
* Wellmont Health System; Kingsport, Tenn.; Pharmacy Technician-Based Medication Reconciliation Program Pilot Study
Organizations that received 2010 E3 Grant Program funding for projects that will improve operating room safety and efficiency:
* CAMC Institute; Charleston, W.Va.; Vascular Surgical Antibiotic Prophylaxis Study (VSAPS)
* Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center; Cincinnati, Ohio; Developing Procedural Competency through Video-Assisted Assessment of Pediatric Airway Management
* Grady Health System Foundation; Atlanta, Ga.; Operating Room Safety
* Health Alliance of the Hudson Valley; Kingston, N.Y.; Operating Room ‘Culture of Safety’ at Health Alliance of the Hudson Valley
* Holy Spirit Health System; Camp Hill, Pa.; Lean Healthcare: Improving efficiency and patient flow in the Operating Room
* Johns Hopkins Heath System; Baltimore, Md.; Prevention of Surgical Site Infections Utilizing Intra-Operative Cameras to Improve Operative Practices
* Memorial Hermann Healthcare System; Houston, Texas; Impact of SSCL Use on Surgical Complications
* Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center; New York, N.Y.; Multiphase Targeted Intervention to Increase Staff Communication of Patient and Safety Concerns in the Operating Room
* Rhode Island Hospital; Providence, R.I.; Marking in the Universal Protocol: Enhancing Time-Outs (MUP-ET)
* Saint Alphonsus Family Maternity Center; Boise, Idaho; Labor & Delivery Universal Surgical Team
* Saint Peter’s University Hospital; New Brunswick, N.J.; Streamlining the Patient Preoperative Process
* University of Alabama at Birmingham; Birmingham, Ala.; Perioperative Patient Throughput
About the Cardinal Health Foundation
The Cardinal Health Foundation supports local, national and international programs that improve health care quality and build healthy communities. The Cardinal Health Foundation also offers grants to encourage employee service to the community and works through international agencies to donate much-needed medical supplies and funding to those who need them in times of disaster. To learn more, visit cardinalhealth.com/community.
About Cardinal Health
www.psqh.com
Headquartered in Dublin, Ohio, Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE: CAH) is a $99 billion health care services company that improves the cost-effectiveness of health care. As the business behind health care, Cardinal Health helps pharmacies, hospitals, ambulatory surgery centers and physician offices focus on patient care while reducing costs, improving efficiency and quality, and increasing profitability. Cardinal Health is an essential link in the health care supply chain, providing pharmaceuticals and medical products to more than 60,000 locations each day. The company is also a leading manufacturer of medical and surgical products, including gloves, surgical apparel and fluid management products. In addition, the company supports the growing diagnostic industry by supplying medical products to clinical laboratories and operating the nation's largest network of radiopharmacies that dispense products to aid in the early diagnosis and treatment of disease. Ranked #17 on the Fortune 500, Cardinal Health employs more than 30,000 people worldwide. More information about the company may be found at cardinalhealth.com.
Friday, November 26, 2010
CareChex Releases new Study On Quality Of Healthcare at University Hospitals
Greenville, South Carolina, November 1, 2010—CareChex, a division of The Delta Group specializing in rating the quality of hospital and physician care, released a new study, An Assessment of the Quality of University Hospital Care in the U.S., that investigates whether or not university hospitals outperform other hospitals on objective measures of quality. Importantly, to accurately assess the relative quality of care provided by university hospitals, the study removed unusually difficult cases (i.e., outliers) and adjusted for differences in patient risk factors (i.e., clinical and demographic characteristics).
Study results were surprising: While university hospitals do very well as a group in cancer care and in overall medical care, in many clinical categories they either performed the same as non-university hospitals or sometimes far worse. For example, 89% of university hospitals fall below the national average in orthopedic care, and 85% fall below the national average for general surgery.
CareChex looked across all key components of quality available for comparison – process, outcomes, and patient satisfaction – to form a single composite percentile score and attendant quality ranking. A total of 118 university hospitals were evaluated using The Delta Group’s National Quality Rating Database (NQRD), which includes virtually all general, acute, non-federal U.S. hospitals.
"Most people assume that a university hospital will provide better quality health care because these institutions typically conduct cutting-edge academic research, have lofty reputations and adopt the latest treatment protocols and technologies," says Dr. Thane Forthman, Managing Principal of The Delta Group. “We were especially surprised to see the study reveal that some of the nation’s best-known university hospitals scored in the bottom quartile of all hospitals nationally for overall quality of hospital care.”
“Certainly more research is needed, but at university hospitals you have a large population of interns and residents who are still being trained. While under the supervision of an attending physician, they have the autonomy to make rounds, order lab tests and make clinical decisions, even though they lack time-tested, hands-on experience,” says Forthman.
“More importantly, interns and residents often work extended shifts of up to 80 hours per week, which empirical research has shown dramatically increases fatigue-related medical and diagnostic errors, medication errors and other adverse events.”
“Regardless of the potential factors contributing to the issue, patients should consider the quality of care provided by all hospitals in their market before making the assumption that a university hospital will provide superior care.”
Among the key CareChex study findings:
* University hospitals appeared more frequently in the top 10% of all hospitals nationally in cancer care and overall medical care: 43% of university hospitals studied performed in the top 10% nationally for cancer care, while 17% performed in the top 10% for overall medical care.
* Surprisingly, many highly-regarded university hospitals performed in the bottom 25% of all hospitals nationally for overall quality of hospital care, including: Emory University Hospital, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Memorial Hospital, George Washington University Hospital, Georgetown University Hospital, Hospital of University of Pennsylvania, Stanford Hospital, Shands Hospital at the University of Florida, The Johns Hopkins Hospital, The University of Chicago Medical Center and University of North Carolina Hospital (Chapel Hill).
* Of the 118 university hospitals evaluated, 17 were in the top 10% of all hospitals nationally for overall quality of care in three or more clinical categories:
Study results were surprising: While university hospitals do very well as a group in cancer care and in overall medical care, in many clinical categories they either performed the same as non-university hospitals or sometimes far worse. For example, 89% of university hospitals fall below the national average in orthopedic care, and 85% fall below the national average for general surgery.
CareChex looked across all key components of quality available for comparison – process, outcomes, and patient satisfaction – to form a single composite percentile score and attendant quality ranking. A total of 118 university hospitals were evaluated using The Delta Group’s National Quality Rating Database (NQRD), which includes virtually all general, acute, non-federal U.S. hospitals.
"Most people assume that a university hospital will provide better quality health care because these institutions typically conduct cutting-edge academic research, have lofty reputations and adopt the latest treatment protocols and technologies," says Dr. Thane Forthman, Managing Principal of The Delta Group. “We were especially surprised to see the study reveal that some of the nation’s best-known university hospitals scored in the bottom quartile of all hospitals nationally for overall quality of hospital care.”
“Certainly more research is needed, but at university hospitals you have a large population of interns and residents who are still being trained. While under the supervision of an attending physician, they have the autonomy to make rounds, order lab tests and make clinical decisions, even though they lack time-tested, hands-on experience,” says Forthman.
“More importantly, interns and residents often work extended shifts of up to 80 hours per week, which empirical research has shown dramatically increases fatigue-related medical and diagnostic errors, medication errors and other adverse events.”
“Regardless of the potential factors contributing to the issue, patients should consider the quality of care provided by all hospitals in their market before making the assumption that a university hospital will provide superior care.”
Among the key CareChex study findings:
* University hospitals appeared more frequently in the top 10% of all hospitals nationally in cancer care and overall medical care: 43% of university hospitals studied performed in the top 10% nationally for cancer care, while 17% performed in the top 10% for overall medical care.
* Surprisingly, many highly-regarded university hospitals performed in the bottom 25% of all hospitals nationally for overall quality of hospital care, including: Emory University Hospital, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Memorial Hospital, George Washington University Hospital, Georgetown University Hospital, Hospital of University of Pennsylvania, Stanford Hospital, Shands Hospital at the University of Florida, The Johns Hopkins Hospital, The University of Chicago Medical Center and University of North Carolina Hospital (Chapel Hill).
* Of the 118 university hospitals evaluated, 17 were in the top 10% of all hospitals nationally for overall quality of care in three or more clinical categories:
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