MHAHRQ Website Analysis

The Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers (HCAHPS) began in 2006 with a 27 question survey that is distributed to discharged patients. This survey process was originally designed to help patients compare hospitals in their area to be able to make an informed choice for their healthcare needs. In January 2013, five additional questions were added to the survey. Beginning this year, Medicare reimbursement rates to a hospital are tied to the hospital’s patient satisfaction scores. Therefore, hospitals are continually looking for ways to improve

Healthcare is in a constant state of change with movements that impact rates, access and quality of care. Hospitals have become more competitive due to the rising cost of care delivery and the reduction in reimbursement from payers. This causes difficulty in delivering quality care to all patients, which is being measured by mandated patient perception surveys, Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS). HCAHPS scores are part of value

The implications and effects on patients waiting long hours to be seen in the ED are immense. In a recent study done over five years in Ontario hospitals showed the risk of adverse events and even deaths increased with the length of stay in the ED (Science Daily, 2011). When EDs become overcrowded the quality of care changes and declines; which is extremely dangerous. Authors of the study calculated that if ED length of stay was cut by only an hour that 150 fewer Ontarians would die each year (Science Daily, 2011). Wait times can also negatively affect patients financially, untreated medical conditions can lead to reduced productivity and inability to work leading to increased financial strains (Fraser Institute, 2014). As well as delayed access to care can result in more complex interventions needed. Therefore an initiative is needed to provide patients with timely, efficient care when accessing

The professional organization I chose to look further into and discuss today is the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA). Their website is www.ahima.org (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. which I will provide again for you. They are home based in Illinois with their primary address being

The AHRQ organization has several portfolios’ that are funded and supports research projects. Such portfolios are information technology, health patient safety, prevention and care management, and value portfolios. Within these portfolio’s, grants are there to fund new projects that relate to each category. Within each portfolio, research has been started and effectiveness of these projects is underway. Some clinical research projects are a set of priority conditions of importance to the Medicaid, Medicare, and SCHIP programs. Projected initiatives are to improve quality of care. The Value portfolio finds ways to reduce unnecessary cost and waste while maintaining or improving quality without adding cost which is a critical, national need (2012, p.5).

While the United States has some of the best doctors and healthcare facilities in the world we fail at being efficient and effective. Currently there are too many unplanned readmissions, medication errors and hospital acquired infections. The United States health system does not effectively provide preventive medicine for individuals with chronic diseases, and this portion of health care consumers account for the majority of health care costs (Kocher et al., 2010).

In doing the reviewed study researchers calculated rates of hospitalizations for different conditions using various counts of admissions inpatient data and estimates of the population from the census. They also aquired data on admissions taken from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality's. Among the HCUP databases is the Statewide Inpatient Database (SID), which contains discharge data from nearly all hospitalizations in several states. In the study, SID data from the 23 states were used from the 2005–2007 year period. When using the SID files for these states, we count hospitalizations separately by state, year, and two age groups: 60–64 and 65-plus. The quantity of hospitalizations for eight conditions that they hoped to be delicate to medicate adherence: here and now inconveniences of diabetes, ceaseless obstructive pneumonic issue, congestive heart disappointment (CHF), angina, uncontrolled diabetes, asthma, stroke, and intense myocardial localized necrosis

In this case, this increases transparency in the market as it supports informed decision-making, which can help drive improvement that results in higher quality care, lower costs and more engaged patients. In addition, MONAHRQ has established partnerships with different organizations to provide customers with a system that has integrated the highest-quality of care in which ensures communities their required needs. The mission, vision, and values have a big role in hospitals working together with all of their patients to identify the health and well-being of every customer. Washington State hospitals and hospital systems also mainly focused on their customer evaluation and satisfaction values by respecting patients and their care, which helps them sustain a healthy and safe environment in a community that identifies with every individual patient.

To understand this process better, a case study will be referenced as a basis of the discussion of the paper. The study that will be utilized follows a multi-phase implementation of a program to change how to increase the Triple Aims within healthcare systems to deliver services within the community. The 2007 study was designed to evaluate how organizations could improve the quality, access, and reliability of care while being cost effective in providing healthcare services to the community (McCarthy & Klein, 2010). By identifying issues that impede providing these three elements, healthcare providers and organizations can utilize resources to address the issues and improve the patient’s health (McCarthy & Klein, 2010). Organizations can make a positive

Many entities outside of nursing are making initiatives to measure the quality and safety of the patient experience such as the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). The CMS Partnership for Patients Program (PPP) is a group of over 8000 hospitals, representative of health care organizations, state governments, employers, and unions. Partnership for patients is focused on providing safer, more reliable and less costly hospital care. Other organizations such as not- for-profit groups focus on improving relationship between patients, families and health care professionals. The goal of enhancing this relationship is to ensure the provision of high quality care, delivery of safe care, reduction of the cost of care, and enhancement in the transition of care from provider to the next level of care. Even though nurses strive to provide safe and high quality care, they often lost their hope in patient satisfaction scores, performance improvement and quality measurement. Nurse are willing to provide the best care to their patients and committed to the process of improvement, if their efforts are resulted in better patient outcomes. According to the 2014, issue of the New England journal of medicine, a CMS report of 2013 confirmed that the partnership for patients at an estimated cost of $1 billion, showed early elective deliveries in the CMS hospital engagement networks were down by 48% and nationally, readmissions were

It is now time to look more closely at one of the models for hospital-physician’s integration, and discuss the advantages and disadvantages that go along for the hospitals and physicians. The hospitalist model involves a patient’s outpatient physician to transfer full responsibility of care to a dedicated inpatient physician if the patient is to be hospitalized, who would be responsible for inpatient care

It has not been easy for Baylor Scott & White Healthcare to travel this journey, as it had to align its policies to the national health care priorities and embrace a slogan STEEP to provide quality healthcare to its clients. The organization bears a high quality strategy that is well spelt out in its vision and mission. The organization has worked to ensure that all the stakeholders make quality healthcare a priority. In other words, the organization has worked hard to link performance management incentives to clinical indicators and in the end create a multidisciplinary healthcare improvement operations team that can function across all

The mission of Hawaii Health Systems Corporation is to provide accessible, comprehensive healthcare services that are quality-driven, customer-focused, and cost-effective. The vision of the organization is to be the provider of choice for the communities it serves, the employer of choice for its staff, and the system of choice for its physicians (www.hhsc.org, 2014). The organization works with the physician base along with other service providers to plan and implement business ventures that will enhance the services offered to its patients. Employees and community leaders are included in the decision making processes to ensure adequate representation. Each facility has its own separate mission and vision statement that integrates into the overarching statement of Hawaii Health Systems Corporation.

The Baldrige Performance Excellence Program is a current model using certain criteria for purposes of improving quality and risk management. Health care organizations and risk managers around the country utilize this model to boost safety processes and outcomes. At the other end, a final goal is sought to reduce cost and get positive results for the organization. Criteria within the Baldrige model focuses on the successful operation of health care organizations that corroborate between units and departments, including leadership and performance, while also considering Joint Commission accreditation, Magnet status, and the Institute for Healthcare Improvement initiatives (The National Institute of Standards and Technology, 2014). The goal of the Baldrige model is to lead all components of the organization to be unified and productive as a whole, manage change, and examine and analyze data in order to be competitive and successful in the healthcare market.

The cost of the health care industry has always been rising since the early 1980s. It has been a growing concern in both the industry and society. Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) is no exception. Even though the average length of stay (LOS) for the patients in MGH has been declining (Exhibit 10), it is still the highest compared to their competitors (Exhibit 6). Besides the cost, there is no uniformity of process and standardization across different facilities and departments of the hospital. MGH lacks communication and coordination between the facilities.