Relias Media - Continuing Medical Education Publishing

The trusted source for

healthcare information and

CONTINUING EDUCATION.

  • Sign In
  • Sign Out
  • MyAHC
    • Home
      • Home
      • Newsletters
      • Blogs
      • Archives
      • CME/CE Map
      • Shop
    • Emergency
      • All Products
      • Publications
      • Study Guides
      • Webinars
      • Group Sales
    • Hospital
      • All Products
      • Publications
      • Study Guides
      • Webinars
      • Group Sales
    • Clinical
      • All Products
      • Publications
      • Study Guides
      • Webinars
      • Group Sales
    • All Access
      • Subscribe Now
      • My Subscription
    • My Account
      • My Subscriptions
      • My Content
      • My Orders
      • My CME/CE
      • My Transcript
    Home » Better metrics needed to determine quality

    Better metrics needed to determine quality

    August 1, 2013
    No Comments
    Reprints
    Facebook Twitter Linkedin Share Share

    Related Articles

    Better assessment tools, metrics needed to protect against violence

    Use Algorithm to Determine Better Med/Mal Reserves

    Case Management Insider: Measure these metrics related to quality

    Related Products

    How to Improve the Quality of Case Management Departments through Staffing, Part 2

    Evidence of economic burden of disparate care for minorities continues to grow

    If they’re so difficult to reprocess, why are duodenoscopes approved for surgery?

    Keywords

    quality management

    Hospital Management

    Better metrics needed to determine quality

    There has been an intense focus on reducing unplanned readmissions in hospitals. Payers are refusing to pay for them, and increasingly the public believes that they are a determinant of the level of quality of care a particular facility provides to patients. But a study in the June issue of Health Affairs1 indicates that looking at this single data point doesn't tell the whole quality story.

    The authors looked at readmission rates for hospitals at two points — 2009 and 2011 — to assess change, as well as other measures commonly associated with quality: mortality rates, rates of process measure adherence for conditions like heart attacks and pneumonia, and patient volume. The additional measures came from data collected through Hospital Compare and the American Hospital Association.

    The correlation between quality indicators and readmission rates turned out to be "weak or inverse," the authors found. "There were no significant differences in mean readmission rates across all quartiles of mortality rates for heart attack and pneumonia," the study notes. "For heart failure, mean readmission rates were significantly higher for the hospitals in the lowest mortality quartile. Results comparing the change in readmission and mortality rates longitudinally, which controls for time-invariant hospital confounders, showed a weak correlation between the two outcomes for all three conditions."

    One possible explanation is that hospitals with low mortality rates have more patients who can be readmitted, and those with high rates have fewer. But the authors note there is not any correlation between readmission rates and other quality indicators, either. It could also be that transitions of care to sectors outside the hospital setting could influence readmission rates, while the quality measures the authors chose are all the purview of hospitals.

    Regardless, the notion that you can determine quality by looking at this single 30-day period for an unplanned readmission seems inadequate.

    Reference

    1. Press MJ, Scanlon DP, Ryan AM et al. Limits Of Readmission Rates In Measuring Hospital Quality Suggest The Need For Added Metrics. Health Aff June 2013 vol. 32 no. 6 1083-1091.

    Post a comment to this article

    Report Abusive Comment

    www.reliasmedia.com

    Hospital Peer Review

    View PDF
    Hospital Peer Review 2013-08-01
    August 1, 2013

    Table Of Contents

    Ten steps for making surgery safer

    What's up for quality in 2014's IPPS proposal?

    Studies show limits of surgical checklists

    The scheduling/safety intersect

    How does the evidence rate?

    You can use a time-out, too

    Joint Commission to study HIT risks

    AMA, TJC recommend strategies for reduction

    Checklists available for PfP program

    Better metrics needed to determine quality

    Reducing measurement to improve quality

    Remaking healthcare – again

    Begin Test
    Buy this Issue/Course

    Shop Now: Search Products

    • Subscription Publications
    • Books & Study Guides
    • Webinars
    • Group & Site
      Licenses
    • State CME/CE
      Requirements

    Webinars And Events

    View All Events
    • Home
      • Home
      • Newsletters
      • Blogs
      • Archives
      • CME/CE Map
      • Shop
    • Emergency
      • All Products
      • Publications
      • Study Guides
      • Webinars
      • Group Sales
    • Hospital
      • All Products
      • Publications
      • Study Guides
      • Webinars
      • Group Sales
    • Clinical
      • All Products
      • Publications
      • Study Guides
      • Webinars
      • Group Sales
    • All Access
      • Subscribe Now
      • My Subscription
    • My Account
      • My Subscriptions
      • My Content
      • My Orders
      • My CME/CE
      • My Transcript
    • Help
    • Search
    • About Us
    • Sign In
    • Register
    Relias Media - Continuing Medical Education Publishing

    The trusted source for

    healthcare information and

    CONTINUING EDUCATION.

    Customer Service

    customerservice@reliasmedia.com

    U.S. and Canada: 1-800-688-2421

    International +1-404-262-5476

    Accounts Receivable

    1-800-370-9210
    ReliasMedia_AR@reliasmedia.com

    Mailing Address

    • 1010 Sync St., Suite 100
      Morrisville, NC 27560-5468
      USA

    © 2021 Relias. All rights reserved.

    Do Not Sell My Personal Information  Privacy Policy  Terms of Use  Contact Us  Reprints  Group Sales

    For DSR inquiries or complaints, please reach out to Wes Vaux, Data Privacy Officer, DPO@relias.com

    Design, CMS, Hosting & Web Development :: ePublishing