SAN FRANCISCO, April 1 /PRNewswire/ -- A new consumer Web site unveiled today by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Hospital Quality Alliance, a public-private collaboration, provides instant, objective, easy-to-use and free information about the quality of hospital care in California and nationwide. The hospital quality information is now available by visiting http://www.hospitalcompare.hhs.gov/ or http://www.medicare.gov/ and selecting Compare Hospitals in Your Area, or by calling 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227). Either way, consumers get the information they need to help them make more informed healthcare decisions.
Lumetra, Medicare’s Quality Improvement Organization for California, plays a pivotal role in improving California hospital quality by offering hands-on resources, one-on-one training and staff education.
“Medicare’s new Web resource, Hospital Compare, gives consumers information to help them make an informed decision about hospital care,” said Jo Ellen Hylind Ross, Lumetra’s President and Chief Executive Officer. “We encourage consumers to use the information on Hospital Compare as one of their sources when choosing a hospital. We also encourage consumers to talk about this information with physicians, family and friends when making healthcare decisions.”
“We are working closely with California’s healthcare providers and Lumetra to improve the quality of care available in hospitals, nursing homes, home health agencies and dialysis centers,” said CMS Regional Administrator Jeff Flick. “That is just one step we are taking to make sure that Medicare fits beneficiaries’ healthcare needs by modernizing the program to include a new prescription drug benefit.”
Ninety-six (96%) percent of California’s 351 Medicare-certified acute care hospitals are voluntarily participating in public reporting. Nationwide, an estimated 4,200 hospitals are publicly reporting data.
“As an organization in California charged with working with hospitals to improve their quality of care, we have seen firsthand how hospitals are making changes and improving,” added Ross. “We know from our work that California’s hospitals are making quality a top priority every day.”
In 2004, 276 California hospitals participated in Lumetra’s educational events. Lumetra offers regional hands-on educational programs throughout the state. Such events include intensive yearlong collaboratives based on the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) model. Additional outreach to hospitals includes site visits, Web conferences by leading clinical experts, and workshops on clinical, quality, and safety topics.
As a result of participating in a Lumetra-led yearlong collaborative training sessions and the American Hospital Association’s “Get With the Guidelines” Program, Palomar Medical Center, a 328-bed facility in San Diego County, has dramatically improved its quality measure scores for the Acute Myocardial Infarction (AMI) measures, with several of the AMI measures near the 100% mark, up from their 2003 baseline of 44%. The Hospital Compare Web resource allows consumers quick, easy access to this data and other vital and relevant hospital quality information to aid in making meaningful medical care choices.
The new resource was developed by CMS, an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, in partnership with the Hospital Quality Alliance, a public-private collaboration, and nearly every acute care hospital in the nation. It reports quality of care information for hospitals about care to all adult patients, regardless of payer, on three common conditions: heart attack, heart failure, and pneumonia. Many hospitals have reported data on additional quality measures. In the future, information on prevention of surgical infections, pneumonia and patient satisfaction will be added.
“Consumers should review the data on Hospital Compare and then talk with their physicians about any concerns and about quality of care,” Jo Ellen Hylind Ross continued. “You cannot always predict when you will need hospital care, but with easy access to the Hospital Compare resource, you can be informed.”
Medicare’s participation in Hospital Compare is part of its Hospital Quality Initiative, which in turn is part of a national Quality Initiative that also focuses on improving the quality of care in home health agencies and nursing homes. The national Quality Initiative is an important step in Medicare’s comprehensive quality strategy, which consists of four elements:
-- Regulation and enforcement activities conducted by state survey agencies and CMS;
-- Improved information for consumers on quality of care; -- Ongoing quality improvement programs for providers; and -- Collaboration and partnerships to leverage knowledge and resources.
Lumetra is a San Francisco-based, independent, non-profit organization dedicated to improving the quality, safety, and integrity of healthcare for providers and consumers. Lumetra provides innovation services and solutions in the areas of medical review, quality improvement, data analysis, and fraud detection and prevention. Since 1984, Lumetra has been contracted by CMS to be the Medicare Quality Improvement Organization for California. For more information please visit Lumetra on the Web at http://www.lumetra.com/.
Lumetra
CONTACT: Diana Parker, +1-415-677-2122, or dlparker@caqio.sdps.org, forLumetra
Web site: http://www.hospitalcompare.hhs.gov/
Web site: http://www.medicare.gov/
Web site: http://www.lumetra.com/