NCQA urges protecting patient information

Ensuring privacy of medical and personal health information is critical to quality of care and outcomes, the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) in Washington, DC, and the Joint Commission for Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations in Oakbrook Terrace, IL, stated in a joint report.

Patient distrust may cause them to limit the information they share with physicians and other health care providers, possibly leading to misdiagnosis and mistreatment, the organizations said.

The report recommends that consent for identifiable health information "should be truly informed, specific, and voluntary." Information systems should provide "a high level of security and confidentiality protection, including encryption, detailed user access controls, transaction lobs, and blinded files."

Both organizations include patient confidentiality requirements in their accreditation standards.

For a free copy of the report, Protecting Personal Health Information: A Framework for Meeting the Challenges in a Managed Care Environment, contact the Joint Commission Customer Service Center at (630) 792-5800 or the NCQA Customer Service Center at (202) 955-5697.

The report is also available on the World Wide Web sites of both organizations: http://www.jcaho.org and http://www.ncqa.org.

Free software calculates inpatient measures

A new computer software tool is available free of charge to calculate 33 inpatient clinical performance measures. Using discharge data, hospitals can calculate potentially avoidable adverse outcomes (mortality rates among low-risk patients and complication rates), utilization rates, and potentially avoidable hospital admissions, such as hospitalization for immunization-preventable pneumonia among the elderly.

The Agency for Health Care Policy and Research (AHCPR) in Rockville, MD, is offering the software diskettes, manual, and other information in a kit titled "Outcome, Utilization, and Access Measures for Quality Improvement" (AHCPR 98-0048). For more information, contact the AHCPR Publications Clearinghouse, P.O. Box 8547, Silver Spring, MD 20907. Telephone: (800) 358-9295. World Wide Web: http://www.ahcpr.gov.

AHCPR issues first evidence reports

As research centers issued the first evidence reports and technology assessment, the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research (AHCPR) in Rockville, MD, announced 12 new topics. The reports involve a comprehensive review of scientific literature and may shape the development of clinical practice guidelines and performance assessment nationwide.

The new topics are: the use of erythropoietin in hematology and oncology; management of acute chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; criteria for determining disability in patients with end-stage renal disease; treatment of acne; anesthesia management during cataract surgery; criteria for weaning from mechanical ventilation; management of cancer pain; management of acute otitis media; prevention of venous thromboembolism after injury; management of pre-term labor; management of chronic hypertension during pregnancy; and management of unstable angina.

For more information on the evidence reports, which will be available free of charge, contact the AHCPR Publications Clearinghouse, P.O. Box 8547, Silver Spring, MD 20907. Telephone: (800) 358-9295. World Wide Web: http://www.ahcpr.gov.