The consumer website called Hospital Compare was unveiled on April 1, 2005. This resource provides objective, easy-to-use and free information about the quality of hospital care in Oklahoma and nationwide. The site shows the recommended care an adult should get if being treated for a heart attack, heart failure, or pneumonia or having surgery. The performance rates for this website reflect care provided to all U.S. adults. Under the Hospital Quality Initiative, hospitals voluntarily submit quality of care information so that consumers can compare care and make more informed decisions. Hospital Compare was created by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Hospital Quality Alliance, a public-private collaboration. You can access Hospital Compare through this link.
The publicly reported quality measures, which are based on established guidelines, have gone through years of extensive testing for validity and reliability by CMS and the Medicare quality improvement organizations (QIOs), the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO), and researchers. The National Quality Forum (NQF), a voluntary standard-setting consensus-building organization representing providers, consumers, purchasers, and researchers, has endorsed these measures.
Collecting and reporting quality data helps hospitals highlight their successes and identify areas for improvement and use national and local benchmarks to assess performance. Hospitals also have the opportunity to give consumers important information about quality of care to help them compare and make informed decisions. In addition to these benefits, hospitals receive technical assistance and hands-on training in submitting data and improving quality from quality improvement organizations (QIOs).
Also note all of the reporting-related links on the upper-left of this page.
Contact:
Donna Piatt, RN, Quality Improvement Project Coordinator
405-302-3212 or E-mail
Gayla Middlestead, Quality Improvement Specialist
405-302-3241 or E-mail.