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December 2009
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MESSAGE FROM THE BOARD
What Does Health Reform Mean to Healthcare Quality Professionals?
Immediate Past President Thomas Smith says that the issue of quality continues to permeate the healthcare industry. “As we enter into the era of healthcare reform, it will be even more important that we are able to offer our patients the best quality experience when they enter our facilities, are cared for by our staff, or are insured by our companies. You, my friends, are in charge of making that happen.”
QUALITY COLLABORATIVE
NQF Releases Quality Data Set Framework for Integrating Data
The National Quality Forum (NQF) has released the Quality Data Set framework in its report, Health Information Technology Automation of Quality Measurement: Quality Data Set and Data Flow.
Joint Commission Q&A
This month’s submitted question: What changes to the standards, accreditation process, and core measures can hospitals expect in 2010?
AHRQ: High Blood Pressure Medicines Show Promise for Treating Heart Disease
Two medications commonly used to treat high blood pressure appear to be effective in treating a common type of heart disease known as stable ischemic heart disease, according to a new comparative effectiveness review funded by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).
ASSOCIATION NEWS
Letter from the Editor: Let's Discuss Competencies
Holiday Sale
NAHQ on the Road in 2009
HQF: Thanks For Your Support!
LEADERSHIP SKILLS
Quality Buckets: An Innovative Tool for Complying with Mandates
Ann Grybosksi, MD, writes that the challenge for Cape Cod Healthcare in Cape Cod, MA, is to collect and organize large amounts of data from multiple departments in a cost-efficient manner, as well as comply with the external reporting requirements of regulatory, accreditation, and insurance entities. The answer: Quality Buckets.
INDUSTRY TRENDS
National Health Reform: What It Means for Behavioral Healthcare
With the House of Representatives having passed a health reform bill favorable to behavioral health, it’s now time for behavioral healthcare professionals to help pass a bill in the Senate, says Ronald W. Manderscheid, PhD, the newly appointed executive director of the National Association of County Behavioral Health and Developmental Disability Directors, Washington, DC.
TJC Targets its “Behavioral Health Services Customers”
As part of its new effort to become more flexible and improve service for its “behavioral health services customers,” The Joint Commission intends to update behavioral health standards and develop hospital-specific standards for freestanding psychiatric hospitals over the next couple of years, says Ann Scott Blouin, PhD RN, the Joint Commission’s executive vice president of accreditation and certification operations.
SIG TRENDS
The Growing Use of QIS Survey at Nursing Homes
Jeanenne F. Clark, RN MSN MPH, says that in many states, the Quality Indicator Survey (QIS) has already or will soon replace nursing home survey processes established under the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1987. Currently being used to some extent in 16 states, the new QIS for nursing homes is resident-centered, with more information obtained by direct questioning of residents and their families.
STATE NEWS
News from Arkansas, California, Illinois, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Virginia.
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