Professionals

Public Reporting

Qualidigm’s staff is prepared to assist hospitals with the Hospital Quality Alliance (HQA) and Reporting Hospital Quality Data for Annual Payment Update (RHQDAPU), the current voluntary public reporting initiatives.

The Hospital Quality Alliance is a private/public venture involving the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), the American Hospital Association, the Federation of American Hospitals, the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, the Association of American Medical Colleges as well as other stakeholders. Results from hospitals participating in this initiative are updated quarterly on CMS’ website, Hospital Compare.

The 2003 Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement and Modernization Act (MMA), provides a financial incentive for hospitals to voluntarily report quality of care information. Under federal law, hospitals must submit quality performance data on all 10 measures to receive the full annual payment update. Hospitals that do not participate will receive a 0.4 percent reduction in payment from Medicare in fiscal years 2005, 2006 and 2007. In order to qualify for the annual payment update, as specified under section 501b of the MMA, hospitals must participate in CMS’ RHQDAPU Initiative.

The 10 quality measures reported in Hospital Compare represent standards of good care for three of the most common reasons for hospitalization among Medicare patients: heart attack, heart failure and pneumonia. The measures are based on established guidelines, have gone through years of extensive testing by CMS, the Medicare Quality Improvement Organizations (QIOs), the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) and researchers to ensure validity and reliability. The National Quality Forum (NQF), a voluntary standard setting consensus-building organization representing providers, consumers, purchasers, and researchers, has endorsed these measures.

Benefits of Participating

Hospitals benefit from publicly reporting quality of care information in several ways. Participation helps hospitals to:

• Highlight their results and identify and focus on areas for improvement.
• Assess performance and learn to adopt new quality improvement initiatives.
• Provide consumers important information about quality of care to help them compare and make informed decisions.
• Work collaboratively within the hospital on improving care.