Another set of measures to add to your to-do list
Are you compiling and reporting performance measurement date from two core measures, as required by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations? As of January 2004, you’ll need to make that three measures.
Quality managers report concerns about the news that the Joint Commission has increased the requirement to collect and report performance measure data from two to three sets of core measures. Hospitals can choose from four core measure sets that address acute myocardial infarction, heart failure, community-acquired pneumonia, and pregnancy and related conditions.
"So far, we’ve been relatively successful in electronically collecting the data on our two core measures — congestive heart failure and pregnancy and related conditions," reports Mary M. Owen, RN, MPA, director of outcomes case management at University of California — Irvine Medical Center in Orange.
However, your core measurement collection now will require additional manual abstraction, particularly with respect to medications, predicts Owen. "That will likely impact our ability to place resources on other performance improvement priorities within our own organization," she adds.
In addition to the Joint Commission’s core measures, you have other voluntary measurement projects to contend with, such as those of the Chicago-based American Hospital Association and the Washington, DC-based Leapfrog Group, Owen notes. "My greatest concern is that prioritization will eventually be driven by external sources at the 50,000-foot level’ instead of closer to the organization’s own patient care population priorities," she says.
[For more information on the new performance measures, contact:
• Mary M. Owen, RN, MPA, Director, Outcomes Case Management, University of California — Irvine Medical Center, 101 The City Drive, Orange, CA 92868. Telephone: (714) 456-8964. E-mail: [email protected].]
Are you compiling and reporting performance measurement date from two core measures, as required by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations? As of January 2004, youll need to make that three measures.
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