News & Events

April 1, 2005

New Medicare Web Resource Gives Consumers Quality Information

Connecticut Hospitals Lead Nation in Performance on Quality Measures

Middletown, CT – Hospital Compare, a new consumer website unveiled today by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Hospital Quality Alliance (HQA), provides instant, objective, easy-to-use and free information about the quality of hospital care in Connecticut and nationwide. The hospital quality information is now available by visiting www.hospitalcompare.hhs.gov or www.medicare.gov and selecting Compare Hospitals in Your Area, or by calling 1.800.MEDICARE (1.800.633.4227). Either way, consumers get the information they need to help them make more informed health care decisions.

“CMS’s new Web resource, Hospital Compare, gives consumers information to help them make an informed decision about hospital care,” said Marcia Petrillo, CEO of Qualidigm, Connecticut’s Quality Improvement Organization (QIO). “We encourage consumers to use this tool, talk with their physician and consult other resources for hospital information. People should review the data on Hospital Compare and then talk with their physician about any concerns and about quality of care,” Petrillo continued. “You cannot always predict when you will need hospital care, but you can be informed.”

Hospital Compare was developed by CMS, an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, in partnership with the HQA, a public-private collaboration, and nearly every acute care hospital in the nation. It reports quality of care information for hospitals about care to all adult patients, regardless of payer, on three common conditions: heart attack, heart failure, and pneumonia.

How does the performance of Connecticut hospitals compare with that of hospitals around the country? As a group, Connecticut hospitals perform better than the nation. Connecticut hospitals ranked in the top 10 among states for performance on 14 of the measures. For two of the measures (initial heart function and breathing assessment), Connecticut is #1 in the country.

“Connecticut hospitals are committed to public accountability and to providing the highest quality healthcare to every patient,” said Jennifer Jackson, President and CEO of the Connecticut Hospital Association (CHA). “That commitment is evidenced not only by Connecticut hospitals’ performance on the measures, but also Connecticut hospitals’ leadership in making the data available on the CHA website (www.cthosp.org/Quality/HPR.html) since last spring, a year before the launch of Hospital Compare.”

Earlier this week, CHA updated the information on its website with July - September 2004 data to supplement the January - June 2004 data available today on the Hospital Compare website.

Connecticut played a unique role in the development of the new Hospital Compare website. Since 2002, the Connecticut Department of Public Health (DPH) has been working closely with Qualidigm, CHA and all Connecticut adult acute care hospitals to develop a reporting system to provide consumers with important information about hospital quality. In 2003, DPH formally partnered with CMS on developing Hospital Compare and Connecticut was the first state in which all hospitals agreed to participate. In 2004, DPH released its first annual report to consumers using the quality measures that are now included on the CMS website and Connecticut is one of the few states represented on the federal Hospital Information Workgroup that is advising CMS on the development of the hospital quality initiative.

“While Connecticut has one of the best healthcare systems in the world, we must continuously strive to improve patient care through regulatory oversight, education and public reporting,” stated Department of Public Health Commissioner J. Robert Galvin, M.D., M.P.H. “This new consumer website will provide the public with an important resource to be better informed about their healthcare choices,” he stated.

Some hospitals may have data on additional conditions displayed on the Hospital Compare website and, in the future, new measures and information on patient’s perceptions of care will be added. Connecticut is one of the four states in which hospitals have been working closely with CMS on developing the standardized survey that will be used as the basis of public reporting of patient satisfaction.

CMS’s participation in Hospital Compare is part of its hospital quality initiative, which in turn is part of a national Quality Initiative that also focuses on improving the quality of care in home health agencies and nursing homes. “We are modernizing Medicare to ensure it fits beneficiaries’ health care needs,” said CMS Regional Administrator Charlotte Yeh, M.D., FACEP. “That means working closely with health care providers and Qualidigm to improve quality of care in our hospitals, nursing homes, home health agencies and dialysis centers. It also means bringing prescription drug coverage and improved preventive health care services to all Medicare beneficiaries.”

DPH, Qualidigm and CHA already have used the information included in Hospital Compare to work together to identify strategies to improve care. On one of the quality measures, the percentage of patients who receive pneumonia vaccinations, DPH, Qualidigm and CHA successfully approached the Connecticut legislature last year to change Connecticut law to allow “standing orders” for vaccinations, a practice recommended by CMS to facilitate widespread vaccination. The regulations implementing that legislative change are expected to be in place later this year.

“As the Medicare Quality Improvement Organization in Connecticut, Qualidigm plays a pivotal role in improving Connecticut hospital quality by offering hands-on resources, one-on-one training and staff education,” said Anne Elwell, Director of Quality Improvement Services. We have seen first hand how hospitals are making changes and improving, and we commend our state’s hospitals for making quality a top priority every day.”

Additional Information

Qualidigm is a nationally recognized industry leader in measuring and improving the quality of health care. A private, nonprofit quality improvement organization based in Middletown, Qualidigm participates in numerous national and local initiatives, some of which include patient safety, public reporting and helping providers in their quality improvement efforts. Qualidigm partners with health care providers and public and private sector groups to achieve sustainable improvement in health and the quality of health care. www.qualidigm.org.

The Connecticut Hospital Association (CHA) has represented hospitals and health-related member organizations for more than 80 years. From its Wallingford, Connecticut headquarters, CHA strives to advance the health of the citizens of Connecticut by representing and serving hospitals and their related healthcare organizations. As a reflection of Connecticut hospitals’ commitment to public accountability, CHA developed a consumer-friendly hospital performance reporting website in 2004. In order to provide consumers with the most recent hospital performance information, Connecticut’s not-for-profit hospitals have committed to updating the website with the most recent quarterly information (www.cthosp.org/Quality/HPR.html), several weeks before it is available on the CMS Hospital Compare website.

For further information, please contact:
Qualidigm
Allyson Schulz
Director of Marketing
Telephone: 860.632.6361