Clinical Quality Measures (CQMs) developed by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) help to access the quality of care in a variety of clinical settings. CQMs are the essential elements of the National Quality Strategy (NQS) aimed at improving the quality, safety, and efficiency of care by utilizing health information technology in hospitals, nursing homes, and home health care (McBride & Tietze, 2016). Hospital Compare contains detailed information on quality assessments of multiple U.S. healthcare organizations, as well as state and national statistics available to the public. The purpose of the paper is to compare two healthcare organizations using Hospital Compare data, explore the differences between the hospitals, and explain the impact of CQMs on clinical performance.
Description of the Organizations
The organizations I selected for the comparison are Pennsylvania Hospital and Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. Both are teaching hospitals located in the Center City district of Philadelphia, PA, and surrounded by historical landmarks. Pennsylvania Hospital is an acute care hospital founded in 1751 and is ranked first in the state of Pennsylvania by U.S. News & World Report’s rating of best hospitals (Pennsylvania Hospital, “About Penn Medicine”). Thomas Jefferson University Hospital is an acute care facility established in 1877, which is ranked third in Pennsylvania by U.S. News & World Report’s annual rating (Jefferson University Hospitals, “About Us”). It has 908 licensed acute beds and employs 9,604 professionals working with various clinical specialties (Jefferson University Hospitals, “About Us”). The reason I decided to compare these healthcare facilities is that patients are often dissatisfied with the quality of care at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital and request a transfer to Pennsylvania Hospital and vice versa. Thus, reviewing the differences between the hospitals might help to define the causes of patient dissatisfaction.
Comparison of the Organizations
The comparison of Pennsylvania Hospital with its local competitor, state, and national averages will be based on two quality measures: surveys of patient experiences related to communication with nurses and doctors. According to Hospital Compare, Pennsylvania Hospital received the rating of 84% and 81% for the quality of communication provided by nurses and doctors respectively, while Thomas Jefferson University demonstrated the ratings of 81% and 79% (The Official U.S. Government Site for Medicare, “Hospital Compare Quality of Care Profile Page”). The state averages in the same category are 82% and 81%, while the national averages equal 81% and 82% (The Official U.S. Government Site for Medicare, “Hospital Compare Quality of Care Profile Page”). The goal for the quality measure was patient-centered care. Pennsylvania Hospital successfully reached the goal as its ratings are above the state and national averages, while Thomas Jefferson University Hospital’s ratings are equal or below the averages.
Analysis of Factors Contributing to Performance Measures
Since both hospitals are located in the same area, they serve similar patient populations. Thus, the differences in the patient-centered performance data are not caused by diverse patient responses but affected by internal organizational factors. According to Bokhour et al. (2018), organizational factors might enhance or impede patient-centered care. One the one hand, the hospital’s focus on innovation in nursing practice, strong leadership, and accountability for employees’ actions contribute to the effectiveness of clinical performance (Bokhour et al., 2018). On the other hand, the lack of innovation, staff engagement, or quality leadership have a negative impact on nursing practice.
The Impact of Data Standardization on the Quality of Care
Publicly reported data might improve the quality and safety of care. Firstly, it allows patients to evaluate and compare the effectiveness of healthcare facilities and decide where they would like to be treated. Secondly, the measurements improve transparency in healthcare by providing current evaluation data and patient survey results of particular care providers. Finally, regular quality measurement creates competition between hospitals, which motivates them to improve the effectiveness and gain competitive advantages. Therefore, without data standardization, patients and stakeholders could not obtain valuable knowledge defining their choice of healthcare facilities.
References
Bokhour, B. G., Fix, G. M., Mueller, N. M., Barker, A. M., Lavela, S. L., Hill, J. N., Solomon, J. L., & Lukas, C. V. (2018). How can healthcare organizations implement patient-centered care? Examining a large-scale cultural transformation. BMC Health Services Research, 18(168). Web.
Jefferson University Hospitals. (2020). About Us. Web.
McBride, S., & Tietze, M. (2016). Nursing informatics for the advanced practice nurse: Patient safety, quality, outcomes, and interprofessionalism. Springer.
Pennsylvania Hospital. (2020). About Penn Medicine. Web.
The Official U.S. Government Site for Medicare. (2020). Hospital Compare Quality of Care Profile Page. Web.