miércoles, 21 de mayo de 2014

National Healthcare Quality & Disparities Reports | Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality (AHRQ)

National Healthcare Quality & Disparities Reports | Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality (AHRQ)



AHRQ National Reports Indicate That Hospital Care Is Improving

Hospitals are leading the movement to improve the quality of care delivered to U.S. patients, outpacing improvements in other settings, according to two national reports issued by AHRQ on May 15. Three-quarters of hospital quality measures showed significant improvement, compared with 60 percent for home health and nursing home care, and about half for ambulatory settings, according to AHRQ’s 2013 National Healthcare Quality Report and National Healthcare Disparities Report. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Partnership for Patients initiative, HHS' Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) quality reporting programs, such as the Hospital Inpatient Quality Reporting Program and Hospital Outpatient Quality Reporting Program, and private-sector initiatives such as those sponsored by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement have been catalysts for the current quality improvement effort in hospitals. "Hospitals are clearly engaged in efforts to improve health care quality in the United States," said AHRQ Director Richard Kronick, Ph.D. "The intense national focus on quality improvement in hospitals is starting to pay off, but much work remains to make sure that all Americans have access to high-quality care in every setting." The reports include trend data for most measures of quality and disparities from 2000-2002 to 2010-2011, which predate implementation of most of the Medicaid expansions and health insurance exchanges under the Affordable Care Act. The reports provide a baseline for tracking progress under the Affordable Care Act in upcoming years. The quality and disparities reports also are available online at NHQRnet, a website that has been redesigned to facilitate benchmarking and trending capabilities. It includes a data query tool to compare national- and state-level data. Printed copies of the reports can be obtained by calling 1-800-358-9295 or by sending an email to
ahrqpubs@ahrq.hhs.gov.

No hay comentarios: