Quality Initiative
Quality Initiative moves forward with launch of clinical Web
site
The first performance data for hospitals participating in The Quality
Initiative: A Public Resource on Hospital Performance has been made
available at www.cms.hhs.gov/quality/hospital/. The AHA,
Federation of American Hospitals, Association of American Medical
Colleges and other initiative partners unveiled the Web site at a press
briefing last week in Washington. "Just 10 months ago America's
hospitals, in partnership with accrediting organizations, government and
quality and consumer groups, made a commitment to provide the public
with information that will help patients and families make decisions
about their medical care," said AHA president Dick Davidson. "Today
we're one step closer to that goal."
To date, 1,717 hospitals in all 50 states, the District of Columbia
and Puerto Rico have pledged to participate. While data will be
displayed for 415 hospitals in the initial posting, intended primarily
for hospitals and clinicians, more than 1,000 hospitals have begun
submitting data to CMS for the next posting in February 2004. Hospitals
have until Nov. 15 to submit data for that posting. Meanwhile, the
hospital groups said they will work to increase the number of hospitals
participating, expand on the starter set of measures, and determine how
best to make data meaningful and useful to the public. For a complete
list of hospitals participating in the initiative, visit www.aha.org and click on
the Quality Initiative icon. (AHA News Now, Oct. 9, 2003)
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