The country's healthcare systems have made significant progress improving care and reducing costs, according to a report from CMS.
The report surveyed 25 CMS quality reporting programs from 2006 to 2013. Approximately 95 percent of 119 publicly report performance rates showed progress. Approximately 35 percent of the same measures were noted as high-performing, which means the performance rates surpassed 90 percent in each of the most recent three years in which data were available, according to AHA News Now.
CMS also said between 7,000 and 10,000 lives were saved from 2006 to 2012 through improved performance in inpatient heart failure procedures, and between 4,000 and 7,000 infections were prevented by improving surgical process measures. The hospitals also reduced racial disparities in care, according to the report.
The progress documented in the report "demonstrates that the nation has made clear progress in improving the healthcare delivery system to achieve the three aims of better care, smarter spending, and healthier people," said Patrick Conway, MD, CMS deputy administrator for innovation and quality and chief medical officer, in the report.