HealthLeaders Media QualityLeaders - April 3, 2008 | No Better Time for Transparency


No Better Time for Transparency Maureen Larkin, Senior Editor-Quality The quality and patient satisfaction ratings of local hospitals were all over the pages of newspapers earlier this week, after CMS released the long-awaited results of its Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems survey. The story made the New York Times and other high profile news outlets, spurring consumer interest in how their local hospitals fared in the survey. For consumers, it's new, it's fresh, and they're interested. [Read More]
		April 3, 2008

Editors Picks

AHRQ releases State Snapshots
The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality has released its annual report that gives a state-by-state briefing on healthcare in the United States. States are rated by the types of care offered, the care settings and clinical areas. The report also shows how each state is progressing in meeting the Healthy People 2010 initiatives. [Read More]

Is your hospital one of 'Choice'?
The American Alliance of Healthcare Providers has released its list of winners in the annual Hospital of Choice Awards. The honor recognizes America's most "consumer-friendly" hospitals. Is your hospital on the list? [Read More]

Study finds many patients dissatisfied with hospitals
HCAHPS is indeed the topic of the week, so I'd be remiss if I didn't include at least one story about the release of data here. This one's from The New York Times. Something to note: As of press time, there were 211 comments posted to this story online. To me, that indicates that there was high interest in this story when it was released in Saturday's edition. [Read More]

Patient satisfaction best determinant of quality care, study says
A recent poll by the Wall Street Journal and Harris Interactive shows that most adults favor the use of patient satisfaction surveys to determine the quality of healthcare over all other quality measures. Eighty-seven percent of those surveyed said they would be interested in using Web-based consumer rating tools. [Read More]

This Weeks Headlines

Insurance firm's surveys ask patients to rate practitioners
Salt Lake Tribune - April 3, 2008

Patient-safety information bill criticized
Des Moines Register - April 3, 2008

U.S. health chief offers Rx for hospital cost cuts
Boston Herald - April 3, 2008

RI senate panel OKs hospital infections bill
Providence Journal - April 3, 2008

Report clears California hospital in infection outbreak
Fresno Bee - April 3, 2008

California hospital uses telemedicine to fight infection
Sonoma Index-Tribune - April 3, 2008

Sponsored Headlines from IBM

Healthcare 2015: Win-win or lose-lose? The current paths of many healthcare systems around the world will become unsustainable by 2015. Healthcare systems that fail to transform will likely require immediate and major forced restructuring. There is a more positive scenario that will require new levels of accountability, tough decisions and hard work.

Healthcare 2015 and U.S. health plans: New roles, new competencies: The U.S. healthcare system is on an unsustainable path. Health plan providers must help shape and lead the healthcare transformation or risk being marginalized.

In the interest of the patient: This paper explores how by collaborating and sharing data, the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries can realize the full value of the information they collect--and improve patient treatments.

HealthLeaders Media
Products & Resources

Come this fall, if you fail to catch a preventable condition, you won't get paid. That's a concept that CMS and other payers are driving with force in 2008 and beyond. But with a focus on so many patient safety and quality initiatives, how do hospital leaders ensure that focus goes on the list of preventable conditions without derailing the hospital's overall quality and patient safety program?

Does your ED need a makeover? Turning around an inefficient ED doesn't require a multi-million dollar overhaul, but it does demand process improvements and metrics.

Learn how to differentiate your hospital with an effective service line business model that defines and drives your position in today's complex market.

Get all the hands-on advice, tools and best practices you need to make sure your hospital scores high on its quality measures and receives every penny of the Medicare reimbursement it deserves with a subscription to Quality Improvement Report.

Make your data work and get the tools and templates you need for effective analysis of the quality and safety measures at your facility.

Improve performance, reduce complications, and comply with CMS with this book, Surgical Care Improvement Project, which will guide you through the processes and measures you need to get the reimbursement your organization deserves.

With the public release of HCAHPS, is your hospital's marketing and public relations department ready to talk about your organization's results? Good or bad, learn the right way to talk about your scores with the media.

From HealthLeaders Magazine

Your Hospital, the Entrepreneur

Forget those fixed-income investments. Many organizations are funding early-stage healthcare ventures that can yield not only healthy financial returns, but also improved efficiencies and better quality care. [Read More]

Are you a health leader?


	Leaders Forum A Key to Hospital Safety Public reporting is a necessary part of creating a hospital culture of quality and patient safety, says the former CEO of The Leapfrog Group (this is a pay-per-view article). [Read More]



	Audio Feature Donna Lemmert, infection control coordinator, and Gary Fritz, laboratory manager at Baltimore Washington Medical Center in Glen Burnie, MD, talk about how rapid molecular testing of high-risk patients has helped reduce patient-to-patient transmission of MRSA. [Listen Here]


	Sponsor QualityLeaders Contact Lisa Brown, Director of Integrated Sales, at lbrown@healthleadersmedia.com or call 781.639.1872.

If you prefer not to receive this email newsletter, you can unsubscribe here
HealthLeaders Daily News News is a division of HealthLeaders Media ©2008
HEALTHLEADERSMEDIA
Serving the business information needs of healthcare executives and professionals.