In a first-of-its-kind attempt to encourage better quality care, The Joint Commission has recognized 405 hospitals as top performers for achieving excellence on measures of quality care in its annual report on quality and safety, The Joint Commission announced today.
These hospitals, which represent 14 percent of Joint Commission-accredited hospitals, scored 95 percent for every accountability measure related to heart attack, heart failure, pneumonia, surgical care, and children's asthma care during 2010.
By scoring 95 percent, the top performers used an evidence-based treatment 95 times out of 100 opportunities, such as giving aspirin at arrival for heart attack patients, giving antibiotics one hour before surgery, or providing a home management plan for children with asthma, notes the report.
The report also shows that more than 3,000 Joint Commission-accredited hospitals have made performance gains for heart-attack, pneumonia, surgical care, and children's asthma care since 2002.
Yet, hospitals still have room for improvement in fibrinolytic therapy for heart-attack patients (60.5 percent performance score) and antibiotic treatment for pneumonia patients (77.2 percent).
And in another move to improve patient care, The Joint Commission will integrate performance expectations for accountability measures into its accreditation standards on Jan. 1, 2012, according to the report. Accredited hospitals will have to reach an 85 percent composite compliance target rate for performance on accountability measures.
Added incentive: Better quality performance will help hospitals meet the federal and state pay-for-performance requirements, as well as those for private payers, said Joint Commission President Dr. Mark R. Chassin in the report.
For more:
- read the press release
- here's the list of top performers (.pdf)
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