Hospitals in Rhode Island and throughout the nation must and should increasingly become “transparent” in virtually all areas – quality, patient satisfaction, finance, etc. For most states, this “accountability” movement is new and often difficult. Rhode Island’s history, however, is often turned to as a model on how to responsibly and appropriately shed light on the ultimate human service: health care.
Ten years ago this month, the Rhode Island Health Quality Performance Measurement and Reporting Program was established in law. This pioneering legislation was instituted to publicly report information on clinical performance and patient satisfaction for licensed health care facilities. The program has successfully developed benchmark information for health care organizations, promoted statewide quality improvement and compiled data to study the impact of change. Shepherded for years by former state Sen. Charles Fogarty, the law created a process for the sharing of best practices and cooperative improvement efforts that advance patient care.
In the subsequent years, hospitals, government, physicians and quality improvement organizations have worked tirelessly to develop science-based, consumer-friendly tools to measure hospital performance.
The track record over the last decade is indeed impressive:
• Our state leads the nation for quality of health care. (“Aiming Higher: Results from a State Scorecard on Health System Performance,” Commonwealth Fund, 2007)
• Hospitals in Rhode Island are first in the nation for providing recommended care to heart attack, heart failure and pneumonia patients. (“Aiming Higher: Results from a State Scorecard on Health System Performance,” Commonwealth Fund, 2007)
• Rhode Island is recognized for providing evidence-based care such as the appropriate timing of antibiotics before surgery and administering aspirin to heart attack patients. (“2007 State Snapshots,” Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services)
• A statewide initiative aimed at improving care for intensive-care-unit patients, health care professionals have decreased the rate of infection related to catheters by 42 percent, while the rate of ventilator-associated pneumonia has dropped 16 percent.
• Hospitals have partnered with nationally recognized organizations, such as Johns Hopkins University and the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, to address a multitude of patient-care areas, including surgical complications, pressure ulcers and health care-associated infections.
How do we extend this momentum during the next decade? Hospitals will build on this foundation and carry on this important tradition. We will continue to partner with our talented and devoted health care workers to improve systems and yield an environment in which quality improvement and patient-safety activities may flourish. •
Edward J. Quinlan is president of the Hospital Association of Rhode Island.
