The National Quality Strategy: Guiding Efforts To Improve Health Care Quality | AHRQ Health Care Innovations Exchange

The National Quality Strategy: Guiding Efforts To Improve Health Care Quality | AHRQ Health Care Innovations Exchange

Also in This Issue:

QualityTools

• Improving Patient Safety in Hospitals: A Resource List for Users of the AHRQ Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture
• Comprehensive Unit-Based Safety Program Toolkit
• Team Strategies and Tools to Enhance Performance and Patient Safety (TeamSTEPPS®) Tools and Materials
• Consumer Engagement Quality Toolbox
• Guide to Patient and Family Engagement in Hospital Quality and Safety
• Engaging Patients in Improving Ambulatory Care
• Patient Centered Medical Home Resource Center
• Connecting Those at Risk to Care: The Quick Start Guide to Developing Community Care Coordination Pathways
• Better Communication, Better Care: Provider Tools to Care for Diverse Populations
• Million Hearts™ Toolkits
• Heart360®
• Clinical Practice Implementation Tool for Hypertension
• Let's Move! Toolkit for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Organizations
• Healthy Eating Active Living (HEAL) Cities Campaign Toolkit
• The Physician's Accountable Care Toolkit
• Return on Investment Calculator for Medicaid Quality Initiatives

The National Quality Strategy: Guiding Efforts To Improve Health Care Quality Wednesday, June 15, 2016

The National Quality Strategy, or NQS, was first published in March 2011 and is led by AHRQ on behalf of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Established as part of the Affordable Care Act, the NQS serves as a catalyst and compass for a nationwide focus on quality improvement efforts and approach to measuring quality. The NQS pursues three aims, supported bysix priorities that address the range of quality concerns that affect most Americans.

For the first time, this year’s National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Report and National Quality Strategy Update is a joint effort addressing the progress made against the NQS priorities at the 5-year anniversary of the Strategy. Integration of these two efforts within AHRQ supports the development of this more comprehensive report on the success of efforts to achieve better health and health care and reduce disparities.

This special issue features a selection of content aligned with the six NQS priorities, including profiles of innovative programs recognized in AHRQ’s Priorities in Action listing.

Featured Innovations:

Priority #1: Patient Safety

• Intensive Care Units Participating in Hospital Collaborative Implement Multiple Improvement Strategies, Leading to Fewer Deaths and Lower Costs
• Evidence-Based Bundle Increases Adherence to Recommended Practices, Leading to Fewer Central Line Infections and Lower Costs
• Unit-Based Safety Program Improves Safety Culture, Reduces Medication Errors and Length of Stay

Priority #2: Patient and Family Engagement

• Online Communities Foster Data-Sharing, Communication, and Learning Among Patients With Neurologic and Other Chronic Diseases
• Online Patient Access to Visit Notes Generates Positive Early Reviews From Patients and Primary Care Physicians
• Statewide Association Creates Nation’s First Statewide Patient and Family Engagement Advisory Council, Increasing Adoption of Leading Practices by Member Hospitals

Priority #3: Effective Communication and Coordination of Care

• Inclusive Design Process and Extensive Promotion and Support Generate Widespread Use of Health Information Exchange, Leading to Improvements in Health Outcomes
• State-Financed, Primary Care–Led, Accountable Care Collaborative Provides Comprehensive, Coordinated Care to Medicaid Beneficiaries, Reducing Admissions, Use of Imaging Services, and Costs
• Navy Medical Home Clinics, Staffed by Integrated Primary Care Teams and Supported by Web-Based Systems, Improve Screening Rates, Access to Care, and Patient-Provider Communication

Priority #4: Prevention and Treatment of Leading Causes of Morbidity and Mortality

• Weekly Home Monitoring and Pharmacist Feedback Improve Blood Pressure Control in Hypertensive Patients
• Information Technology-Facilitated Identification of At-Risk Primary Care Patients Combined With In-Office Automated Measurement Significantly Reduces Undiagnosed Hypertension
• Statewide Initiative Focuses on Early Diagnosis, Care Team Activation, and Patient Transfer, Leading to More Timely Treatment for Heart Attack Patients

Priority #5: Health and Well-Being of Communities

• Case Management and Home Assessments Reduce Asthma-Related Admissions, Emergency Visits, and Missed School Days in Diverse Urban Children
• Multistakeholder, Community-Wide Collaborative Prevents Disease and Promotes Health
• Community Referral Liaisons Help Patients Reduce Risky Health Behaviors, Leading to Improvements in Health Status

Priority #6: Making Quality Care More Affordable

• Provider Team Offers Services and Referrals to Frequent Emergency Department Users in Inner City, Leading to Anecdotal Reports of Lower Utilization
• County-Based Accountable Care Organization for Medicaid Enrollees Features Shared Risk, Electronic Data Sharing, and Various Improvement Initiatives, Leading to Lower Utilization and Costs
• California Law Enhances Access to Affordable Care by Limiting Amount Hospitals Can Collect From Low-Income Uninsured and Underinsured Patients

Featured QualityTools:

• 2015 National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Report and 5th Anniversary Update on the National Quality Strategy
• National Quality Strategy Tools