Website Consolidates Hospital Outcome and Quality Data
Patients can easily find outcome and quality data for Pennsylvania’s hospitals on the Pennsylvania Health Care Quality Alliance (PHCQA) website. The Pennsylvania Medical Society is a partner in the alliance.
A quarterly report on PHCQA’s website consolidates data on four quality measures that hospitals report to the Joint Commission, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council.
The report includes some of the most common and costly conditions treated in hospitals:
- Heart attack
- Heart failure
- Pneumonia
- Prevention of health care associated infections
The site also was recently upgraded to include information on the percent of patients who receive appropriate recommended care and patient assessments of hospitals.
PHCQA—a statewide coalition of the Society, hospitals, insurers, and others—is dedicated to developing a consistent and uniform approach to data collection that makes it easier for consumers to access, understand, and use the data.
Daniel J. Glunk, MD, president-elect of the Society, is a member of PHCQA’s board and participates on its methods and measures committee, which created the report.
"Pennsylvania’s physicians support the sharing of this information," said Dr. Glunk. "Measuring outcomes and sharing results encourages improvement. While many factors influence where a patient goes for care, we want all citizens of the state and their caregivers to have access to information that can help them make better health care decisions."
Last Updated: 10/23/2008