How things are done in South Carolina
How things are done in South Carolina
Defining indicators
In some states, the idea of collecting performance indicators is far from a new idea. With managed care pressures and other changes in health care in the past decade, many hospitals are far ahead of the latest requirements from the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations.
"Our hospital, along with thirty-seven other acute care hospitals, is associated with South Carolina’s Quality Indicator Project," says Indun Whetsell, RN, QI coordinator at the Regional Medical Center of Orangeburg and Calhoun Counties, South Carolina. "We have been gathering data for ten years." South Carolina’s Quality Indicator Project measurement system is among the 60 listed approved systems.
"We selected ten indicators for acute care hospitalization. We will continue to monitor those ten indicators even though the Joint Commission requires only two," says Whetsell. "Each hospital will have to make that decision for itself."
A task force for the project spent many hours identifying indicators and developing definitions to ensure they would be comparing apples to apples. "What we wound up with," says Whetsell, "are the ten that make a meaningful impact on clinical decisions relating to quality of patient care. That is a strength of the program."
The 10 indicators are:
• infection rates;
• surgical site infection;
• mortality;
• neonatal mortality;
• perioperative mortality;
• C-section rate;
• readmission rate;
• unplanned inpatient admission rate following ambulatory surgery;
• unplanned operating room return rates;
• falls resulting in medical treatment.
As the South Carolina project collects and processes data, the project committee will continually review the indicator definitions to ensure validity and accuracy.
"We plan on continuing to develop customized reports so we can help our facilities understand and peer-group the data," says Karen Reeves, RN, vice-president of professional services for the South Carolina Hospital Association in Columbia. "Right now, the hospitals are receiving comparative information on a statewide basis. It’s my understanding that the Joint Commission ultimately will extend the benchmarking to a national level."
ORYX PLUS offers an advanced option for some
More indicators cover more areas
The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations in Oakbrook Terrace, IL, conducted a field-readiness survey and found that 69% of hospitals already participate in at least one performance measurement system. Some track data at levels well beyond the basic ORYX requirements and include 10 to 24 indicators. Those facilities can participate in ORYX PLUS, an accelerated option that will be available on a voluntary basis. (See chart, p. 46.)
ORYX is the Joint Commission’s name for its initiative that integrates performance measures into the accreditation process. Under ORYX PLUS, participating hospitals will choose at least 10 out of 25 identified acute care measures and commit to future public disclosure of meaningful performance data. ORYX PLUS hospitals will constitute their own cohort; they will only be compared to one another, regardless of which system their data come through. Hospitals participating in the accelerated option will receive some form of special recognition by the Joint Commission.
ORYX and ORYX PLUS will maintain separate databases. Dennis S. O’Leary, MD, president of the Joint Commission, describes ORYX PLUS: "We developed the project at the request of hospitals at an advanced stage in their use of performance measures. The system will utilize a common set of fully tested performance measures and will lead to the creation of a national database." The fee structure for ORYX PLUS has not been determined yet, and the number of participants that may eventually participate has not been estimated.
Subscribe Now for Access
You have reached your article limit for the month. We hope you found our articles both enjoyable and insightful. For information on new subscriptions, product trials, alternative billing arrangements or group and site discounts please call 800-688-2421. We look forward to having you as a long-term member of the Relias Media community.