Out-of-control jumble of quality measures overwhelms hospitals, creates chaos

The governmental groups, commercial payers and other organizations creating "measure madness" by requiring hospitals to report on hundreds of quality measures must commit to the minimum amount necessary, according to the Healthcare Association of New York State (HANYS).

In its "Moving from Measure Madness to Measures that Matter" report, HANYS calls for those streamlined measures to align with nationally endorsed, evidence-based measures, and focus on measuring "the most vital aspects of care" that directly affect outcomes.

"What we have right now is a labyrinth of confusing metrics, specifications and reporting rules that serves no one," Kathleen Ciccone, R.N., said in an announcement.

One of the challenges in arriving at a common set of measures is that different advocacy groups care about their own interests, FierceHealthcare reported earlier this year. Patients and caregivers want patient-centric information, clinicians want metrics to improve their performance, and providers may have concerns about factors outside of their control.

The HANYS report called for healthcare organizations to also streamline their internal measurement efforts. That will likely take assessing various internal hospital quality improvement efforts and the data collected for each, according to the report. Coordinating strategies could include:

  • A centralized internal oversight system for evaluating and categorizing measures based on value and utility

  • Set criteria for evaluating the importance of specific quality measures within the organization

  • A system to weight those measures by assigning numerical values.

To learn more:
- read the report
- here's the announcement