Quality & Performance Improvement
Improving the quality of patient care is one of the principal goals of the Flex Program. CAHs and State Flex Programs have shown substantial interest and involvement in quality assurance and quality improvement (QA/QI) activities. The Flex Program encourages CAHs to use linkages with external entities to support their quality-related efforts.
Tools
2007 Physician Quality Reporting
Initiative (PQRI) Tool Kit
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has
developed a Tool Kit for the 2007 Physician Quality Reporting Initiative
(PQRI) that will assist eligible professionals with successful
reporting. This Tool Kit consists of some existing educational resources
plus new measure-specific worksheets designed to walk the user
step-by-step through reporting for each measure.
Balanced Scorecards for
Small Rural Hospitals: Concept Overview and Implementation Guidance
Beyond the IOM Report: From Recommendations to
Action
A Step-by-Step Guide to Delivering
Clinical Preventive Services: A Systems Approach
This resource, developed by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
(AHRQ), should be useful for CAHs who are looking for ways to improve quality
across the continuum of care. If you are unable to download the publication, you
may obtain a copy of the AHRQ Publications Clearninghouse at 800-358-9295.
Measuring Success Through Quality
Improvement
This quality improvement plan, developed by the Nebraska Health and Human
Service System, is intended to foster an improved relationship between hospitals
and EMS providers, using a systematic approach.
Evaluation Indicators
This document, prepared by the Wisconsin Rural Hospital Flexibility Program, is
a list of evaluation indicators for rural hospitals, including critical access
hospitals.
Baseline Data Evaluation Form
This template, prepared by the Wisconsin Rural Hospital Flexibility Program, can
be used to store data reflecting CAH operations for evaluation purposes.
Quality
Assurance and Credentialing Agreement
This agreement, developed by the Center for Rural Health Outreach, University of
Nevada, covers a hospital and its credentialing entity with respect to periodic
review and evaluation of quality assurance and credentialing activities.
Monthly Rural Hospital
Survey Instructions
This Internet application was developed by the Tennessee Hospital Association
to automate the process monthly reporting, using basic HTML forms processing.
Resources
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
AHRQ's mission is to support research designed to improve the outcomes and
quality of health care, reduce its costs, address patient safety and medical
errors, and broaden access to effective services.
AHRQ State
Snapshots
The State Snapshots provide State-specific health care
quality information including strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities
for improvement. The goal is to help State officials and their public-
and private-sector partners better understand health care quality and
disparities in their State.
CAH QA/QI
Strategies
(Not a U.S. Government Web Site)
This chapter of the Rural Hospital Flexibility Programs Tracking Project's Year
2 Report highlights initial efforts of State Flex Programs and CAHs in
addressing QA/QI issues.
Rural
Hospital Emergency Department: Quality Measures
A report from the Flex Monitoring Team reporting aggregate
findings from a project that tested emergency department quality
measures in 17 rural hospitals.
Rural Hospital Performance
Improvement (RHPI)
The RHPI project is an intiative to address problems that face small
rural hospitals by providing technical assistance to hospitals in the
Delta region, collect and disseminate information, and help build
state and regional capacity.
Trends in
Potentially Preventable Hospitalizations among Adults and Children,
1997-2004
In 2004, hospital costs for potentially preventable
conditions totalled nearly $29 billion. As many as 4.4 million hospital
stays could be prevented with better ambulatory care, improved access to
effective treatment, or patient adoption of healthy behaviors.