Designed for patients and consumers, The PHCQA Progress & Performance Report of Hospital Quality is the work of the Pennsylvania Health Care Quality Alliance, which is an association of the commonwealth?s hospitals, Blue Cross insurers, the Pennsylvania Medical Society, government policy makers, and other healthcare quality and transparency organizations.
?While hospital quality data has become more available on the Internet, consumers are at a disadvantage when they must search out multiple sites, each with its own measurement standards,? says Gerald Miller, chairman of the Alliance. ?PHCQA has developed, and is continuing to refine, a consistent and uniform approach that makes it easier for consumers to access, understand, and use the data.?
The site compiles information gathered from CMS, the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council (PHC4), and the Joint Commission. Visitors to the site are able to search hospital quality measures in four major clinical areas:
heart attack,
2. heart failure,
3. pneumonia and
4. prevention of health care-associated infections.
?These areas are just the beginning,? says Mr. Miller. ?We will add more clinical
topics and quality measures as they are developed, and will continue to modify the site to make it as useful to consumers as possible. By sharing this data, we can provide objective quality information, while at the same encouraging best practices that improve the performance of hospitals statewide.?
