Quality Reports
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CMS
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) seeks to provide health care access, health care coverage, and improve the quality and efficiency of the nation's health care system. CMS administers Medicare, the nation's largest health insurance program, and works with states to offer Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). It also oversees a variety of health care industry standards, reports and certifications.
Organization Background
Web Site |
www.hospitalcompare.hhs.gov
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Services |
CMS offers health care coverage through three primary programs: Medicare, Medicaid and SCHIP. These programs spend about one-third of the nation's health care dollars. CMS spends nearly one-fifth of the federal government's budget. It also works with public and private organizations, lawmakers and the public to continually improve the health care industry.
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Audience |
CMS provides health care coverage to about one in four Americans through Medicare, Medicaid and SCHIP. Medicare covers nearly 40 million Americans ages 65 and over. Medicaid provides coverage to low-income families with children, certain people on Supplemental Security Income, and others with high medical bills. Through SCHIP, CMS works with states to offer coverage to uninsured children. In addition, CMS oversees quality standards, contracts and systems that benefit the health care and all Americans.
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Type of Quality Data |
CMS participates in the Hospital Quality Initiative (HQI), a public/private effort to provide online assessments and comparisons of health care quality of all U.S. hospitals. The goals include providing useful health care information to the public, implementing consistent measures and fostering quality improvements.
As the initiative grows, extensive health care quality information will be available to consumers, insurers, health care providers and others. Several health care associations and organizations, including the American Hospital Association (AHA), are also involved.
The first phase focuses on 10 quality measures for three medical conditions: heart attacks, heart failure and pneumonia. Future phases will include additional conditions, measures and patient opinions.
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Data Source |
Hospitals across the nation are asked to voluntarily report their performance in each area. The data is then reviewed and posted on the CMS web site. The initial conditions and measures include:
Heart Attack (Acute Myocardial Infarction)
- Was aspirin given to the patient upon arrival at the hospital?
- Was aspirin prescribed when the patient was discharged?
- Was a beta-blocker given to the patient upon arrival at the hospital?
- Was a beta-blocker prescribed when the patient was discharged?
- Was an ACE inhibitor given to the patient with heart failure?
- Was a thrombolytic agent received within 30 minutes of hospital arrival?
- Was percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) received within 120 minutes of hospital arrival?
Heart Failure
- Did the patient get an assessment of his or her heart function?
- Was an ACE Inhibitor given to the patient?
- Did the patient receive discharge instructions?
- Did the patient receive adult smoking cessation advice/counseling?
Pneumonia
- Was an antibiotic given to the patient in a timely way?
- Did the patient receive a pneumococcal vaccination?
- Was the patient's oxygen level assessed?
- Was the patient's blood culture performed before the first antibiotic was received in the hospital?
- Did the patient receive adult smoking cessation advice/counseling?
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MeritCare's Report |
- Click on "Find and Compare Hospitals"
- Choose "Search by Specific Conditions or Procedures"; Click "Begin Search"
- Choose "Hospital Name"; Enter "MeritCare" and "North Dakota"; Click "Continue"
- Choose the Medical Condition or Procedure you want to know more about; Click "Continue"
- Click the check box next to MeritCare near the bottom of the page; Click "Compare"
The search results should allow you to view all MeritCare pages.
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