TAMPA, Fla., 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 Florida 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 health care decisions.
Florida Medical Quality Assurance, Inc. (FMQAI), the Medicare Quality Improvement Organization in Florida, plays a pivotal role in improving Florida hospital quality by offering hands-on resources, one-on-one training and staff education.
“CMS’s new Web resource, Hospital Compare, gives consumers information to help them make an informed decision about hospital care,” said FMQAI Chief Executive Officer Logan Malone, Ed.D. “We encourage consumers to use this tool, talk with their physician and consult other resources for hospital information,” added Malone.
“We are working closely with Florida’s health care providers and FMQAI to improve the quality of care available in hospitals, nursing homes, home health agencies and dialysis centers,” said CMS Regional Administrator Rose Crum- Johnson. “That is just one step we are taking to make sure that Medicare fits beneficiaries’ health care needs by modernizing the program to include a new prescription drug benefit.”
“As an organization in Florida charged with working with hospitals to improve their quality of care, we have seen first hand how hospitals are making changes and improving,” said Malone. “We commend our state’s hospitals for making quality a top priority every day.”
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. Some hospitals may have data on additional conditions, and, in the future, new measures and information on patient’s perceptions of care will be added.
CMS’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 CMS’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;
* On-going, community-based quality improvement programs for providers; and
*Collaboration and partnerships to leverage knowledge and resources.
Florida Medical Quality Assurance, Inc. (FMQAI), a subsidiary of Health Services Holdings (HSH), is the Medicare Quality Improvement Organization (QIO) for Florida. FMQAI is federally funded and under contract with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), a federal agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). As the Florida QIO, FMQAI works towards improving the care provided to Medicare beneficiaries by implementing various quality improvement projects and collaborating with Medicare providers.
This material was prepared by Florida Medical Quality Assurance, Inc., the Medicare Quality Improvement Organization for Florida, under contract with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. FL20051c351029532A
Florida Medical Quality Assurance, Inc.
CONTACT: David Ruscitti, Florida Medical Quality Assurance, Inc.,+1-813-865-3255, or fax, +1-813-354-0737, or druscitti@flqio.sdps.org