Contact: Dennis Tartaglia/Kelly Peterson
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Spencer Vibbert
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NEW MEDICARE WEB RESOURCE GIVES NEW YORK CONSUMERS HOSPITAL QUALITY INFORMATION New York Hospitals Do Well in Most Areas, Show Some Regional Variations in Performance Public Reporting and Quality Improvement Training from IPRO Will Drive Improved Hospital Care LAKE SUCCESS, NY -- New York hospitals perform well in most measures of care for heart and pneumonia patients, on a unique new consumer Web site unveiled today by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Hospital Quality Alliance (HQA), a public-private collaboration. Known as Hospital Compare, the site provides instant, easy-to-use and free information about the quality of hospital care in New York and nationwide. Consumers can access this resource by visiting www.HospitalCompare.hhs.gov; by selecting "Compare Hospitals in Your Area" on the www.Medicare.gov site; or by calling 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227). New York and national results will be discussed during an audio news conference at 1:55 p.m. today."CMS's new Web resource marks a milestone in public accountability and is the outcome of a landmark public-private partnership between hospitals, government and other organizations," says Theodore O. Will, Chief Executive Officer, IPRO. "We encourage consumers to use this unique tool and to talk with their physician about available health care options."
IPRO, the Medicare Quality Improvement Organization in New York State, offers hands-on resources, one-on-one training and staff education to hospitals in the state to help in improving the quality of care.
"We are working closely with New York's health care providers and IPRO to improve the quality of care available in hospitals, nursing homes, home health agencies and dialysis centers," says CMS Regional Administrator James Kerr. "That is just one step we are taking to make sure that Medicare fits beneficiaries' health care needs by modernizing the program to include a new prescription drug benefit."
Hospital Compare includes 17 quality measures. The number of cases reported in New York for two heart attack measures -- thrombolytic agent within 30 minutes and PTCA within 90 minutes -- were too small to provide useful comparisons. New York hospitals performed as well as or better than the national average on 11 of the remaining 15 measures. However, the state's hospitals performed below the national average in four measures: providing an antibiotic within four hours for patients suffering from pneumonia; discharge planning for patients with heart failure; providing smoking cessation advice to heart attack patients; and smoking cessation advice for pneumonia patients. A number of measures showed significant variation among the state's regions.
"These measurements of quality provide a clear roadmap to improving care in the state," says Clare B. Bradley, MD, MPH, Chief Medical Officer, IPRO. "We look forward to continuing to work collaboratively with the state's hospitals to do so."
Hospital Compare uses 17 measures of good care for three common, serious health conditions: heart attack, heart failure and pneumonia. The site is based on data voluntarily submitted by nearly all of the nation's hospitals. While reporting on seven of the measures was optional (indicated below with an asterisk), 130 New York hospitals reported on all 17 measures and 53 reported on between 10 and 16. (NOTE: Comparisons for measures 6 and 7 may not be useful due to small numbers of cases.) Measures include:
Heart attack (acute myocardial infarction)1. Aspirin at arrival
2. Aspirin at discharge
3. Beta-blocker at arrival
4. Beta-blocker at discharge
5. ACE inhibitor for left ventricular systolic dysfunction (LVSD)
6. Percutaneous coronary intervention (angioplasty) within 90 minutes of arrival*
7. Thrombolytic agent ("clot buster") within 30 minutes of arrival*
8. Smoking cessation counseling*
Congestive heart failure9. Left ventricular function (LVF) assessment
10. ACE inhibitor for left ventricular systolic dysfunction (LVSD)
11. Smoking cessation counseling*
12. Discharge instructions*
Pneumonia13. First antibiotic dose within four hours of arrival
14. Pneumococcal screening and/or vaccination
15. Oxygen assessment
16. Smoking cessation counseling*
17. Blood culture before antibiotic*
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. The national Quality Initiative is an important step in CMS's comprehensive quality strategy, which consists of four elements:
With 20 years of experience in health care quality improvement and evaluation, IPRO holds major contracts with state and federal governments to review the cost and quality of services provided to Medicaid recipients, Medicare beneficiaries, and patients enrolled in managed care organizations, and to work with the health care community to improve those services. Based in Lake Success, New York, IPRO also holds contracts with private-sector clients to improve the quality of privately financed services.
JOURNALISTS MAY ACCESS THE NEW YORK STATE AUDIO NEWS CONFERENCE, APRIL 1, 1:55 - 3:00 P.M.: CALL 1-800-553-5260 AND ASK FOR "HOSPITAL COMPARE BRIEFING."