Professionals

National Hospital Quality Initiative

Project Overview

Imagine a health care system where every person receives the right care every time, and where health care practitioners and providers have the tools and resources to deliver that care. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and Qualidigm are dedicated to realizing this vision.

Qualidigm, Connecticut's Quality Improvement Organization (QIO), is working with Connecticut hospitals - their leadership and staff - to use a variety of techniques and strategies to ensure and evaluate the safety of every patient and to implement programs designed to measurably improve health care quality and outcomes for hospitalized patients. As your QIO, we are committed to helping hospitals deliver care that is consistently safe, effective, efficient, timely, person-centered and equitable.

Qualidigm is assisting Connecticut hospitals to improve care using the following key strategies identified by CMS: 

• Measure and Report Clinical Performance - Achieve the objectives of the Surgical Care Improvement Project (SCIP), a national program initiated by CMS and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Reduce surgical mortality and morbidity by focusing on the prevention of surgical site infections, adverse cardiac events, deep vein thrombosis/pulmonary embolism and respiratory complications.
• Adopt Information Technology -Encourage hospitals to implement computerized physician order entry (CPOE) systems to improve and standardize medication documentation and procedures and prevent adverse drug events
• Redesign Care Processes - Achieve the objectives of the National Appropriate Care Measure (ACM) Project by redesigning care processes using tools and strategies that have been proven to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of care delivery. The ACM is a composite patient level measure that aggregates AMI , heart failure and pneumonia measures to determine how a hospital cares for patients with these diseases and conditions. Examine all hospital systems to identify and close gaps between care provided to the patient and optimal patient care management.
• Transform Organizational Culture - Strengthen teamwork and communication throughout each hospital and hospital system. Use the National Hospital ACM Project to encourage cultural change by creating an organization-wide commitment to improve the quality of care for patients with AMI, heart failure and pneumonia.

Qualidigm works intensively with three groups of Connecticut hospitals to:

• SCIP Group - Improve the safety of surgical care by minimizing and ultimately preventing postoperative complications.
• ACM Group - Change organization culture to support system-wide improvement.