Healthcare Quality Metrics

1.     Health Resource and Service Administration

http://www.hrsa.gov/healthit/toolbox/RuralHealthITtoolbox/PatientQuality/metrics.html

Description: A quality metric allows a user to quantify the quality of a selected aspect of care.  The Health Resource and Service Administration website explains the different types of quality metrics a professional would use to measure healthcare access, outcome, patient experience, process, and structure.  The Health Resource and Service Administration website also provides additional resources for healthcare quality metrics.

Keywords:  access measure, outcome measure, patient experience measure

Audience:  health centers, ambulatory care providers, administration

2.     Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services

http://www.cms.gov/Medicare/Quality-Initiatives-Patient-Assessment-Instruments/QualityMeasures/CMS-Measures-Inventory.html

Description: The CMS Measure Inventory is a resource of measures that are used by the CMS in various quality, reporting and payment programs.  The measures within the inventory tool are categorized by CMS program condition/topic, measure type, endorsement status, measure steward, and measure contractor.  Measures that are in use by CMS programs include the following measure information: measure description, numerator, denominator and exclusion statement, and National Quality Forum endorsement information.  The CMS Measures Inventory is updated quarterly.

Keywords:  CMS Measures Inventory, NQF endorsement information, CMS quality reporting

Audience:  health centers, hospitals, physicians

3.     National Quality Measures Clearinghouse

http://www.qualitymeasures.ahrq.gov/index.aspx

Description: The National Quality Measures Clearinghouse (NQMC) is a public resource for evidence based quality measures and measure sets.  The NQMC website provides education resources in the field of quality measurement.  These resources include a variety of measures, desirable attributes of quality measures, uses of quality measure, selecting quality measures, and how to find care coordination measures.

Keywords:  NQMC, quality measurement education, quality measure matrix

Audience:  practitioners, health care providers, health plans, integrated delivery systems

4.     Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set

http://www.ncqa.org/HEDISQualityMeasurement.aspx

Description: The Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS) is a tool used to measure performance on important dimensions of care and service.  HEDIS consists of 75 measures that are across eight domains of care.  HEDIS also makes it possible to compare the performance of several different health plans together.  HEDIS is a quality metrics tool that will help make improvements in quality of care.

Keywords:  HEDIS, quality metrics tools, healthcare quality metrics

Audience:  health plans, physicians, hospitals

5.     RAND

http://www.rand.org/topics/health-care-quality-measurement.html

Description: Tools and surveys are increasingly being used to determine current and optimal levels of health care service and performance to improve the levels for each.  Research AND Development (RAND) offers cost effective and accurate ways to measure the quality of healthcare provided and recommends ways to improve the level of healthcare quality.  All of the health surveys and tools available through RAND are public documents and free of charge.

Keywords:  RAND, public health surveys, quality measurement tools

Audience:  policymakers, health care leaders, practitioners

6.     Institute for Healthcare Improvement

http://www.ihi.org/resources/Pages/default.aspx

Description: The Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) is an independent non-profit organization that leads the driver of results in healthcare quality metrics and healthcare improvement worldwide.  IHI offers many resources to help with improvement efforts within their online Knowledge Center.  The Knowledge Center offers tools, change ideas, measures to guide improvement, IHI white papers, audio and video, and improvement stories.

Keywords:  IHI white papers, IHI Knowledge Center, quality measure video

Audience:  physicians, healthcare administration, nurses

7.     American Society for Quality

http://asq.org/healthcare-use/links-resources/tools.html

Description: American Society for Quality (ASQ) is a global community of people that are dedicated to quality who share their ideas and tools for healthcare quality.  ASQ provides the quality community with training, professional certification, and knowledge.  ASQ’s monthly Healthcare Update Newsletter focuses on a specific quality metric tool, which includes a template, how-to-method, and an example from a healthcare setting.

Keywords:  ASQ, Healthcare Update Newsletter, Healthcare Update: Quality Tools and Applications

Audience:  physicians, administration, health centers

8.     EBSCO’s DynaMed

 http://www.ebscohost.com/uploads/poc/pdf/QualityMeasures_0711.pdf

Description: EBSCO’s DynaMed has clinically organized summaries for more than 3,200 topics.  DynaMed is an invaluable evidence based reference tool for supporting use of quality measures.  DynaMed was created by physicians for physicians and other healthcare professionals for use at the point of care.  DynaMed is updated daily and monitors the content of over 500 medical journals and systematic review databases.

Keywords:  DynaMed, quality measure tool, reference tool

Audience:  physicians, healthcare organization, health plans

9.     Nextgen Healthcare

http://www.nextgen.com/products/community-connectivity/HQM/nextgen-health-quality-measures.aspx?RequestId=cce64fa4

Description: The Health Quality Measures Reporting Module is a clinical data storage location used for automatic registry reporting of clinical outcomes and quality measure data that is required by pay-for-performance programs.  To use the Health Quality Reporting Module, practices document patient encounters in Nextgen Ambulatory EHR and Nextgen Practice Management systems, and the Health Quality Reporting Module does the rest.  The Health Quality Reporting Module automates what has previously been a time-consuming data collection process.

Keywords:  Nextgen EHR, HQR Module, quality data storage

Audience:  physicians, hospitals, nursing home facilities

10.  National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Report

http://www.ahrq.gov/research/findings/nhqrdr/index.html

Description: The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality has produced the National Healthcare Quality Report and the National Health Disparities Report for the past ten years.  These reports measure the trends in the effectiveness of care, patient safety, timeliness of care, patient centeredness, and efficiency of care.  The reports are viewable in chart form and show the latest available findings on quality of and access to healthcare.

Keywords:  AHRQ, National Healthcare Quality Report, National Health Disparities Report

Audience:  physicians, healthcare data experts, healthcare staff

11.  National Inventory of Mental Health Quality Measures

http://www.cqaimh.org/NIMHQM.htm

Description: The National Inventory of Mental Health Quality Measures provides a database of process measures for quality assessment and improvement in mental health and substance abuse care.  This database includes more than 300 measures developed by government agencies, professional organizations, and health facilities.  Inventory in this database can be searched based on specifications, such as domain of quality, patient population, diagnosis, data source, treatment, clinical setting, and evidence level.

Keywords:  CQAIMH, mental health quality measures, process measures

Audience:  mental health providers, clinician organizations, consumer coalitions

12.  National Cardiovascular Data Registry

https://www.ncdr.com/webncdr/

Description: The National Cardiovascular Data Registry (NCDR) is the American College of Cardiology’s worldwide online data registry that helps hospitals and private practices to measure and improve the quality of cardiovascular care they provide. The NCDR houses six hospital-based registries and one outpatient registry.  The NCDR is one of the best outcome-based quality improvement programs in the United States.  The NCDR gives hospitals unlimited on-demand access to proven quality improvement tools and initiatives along with clinical modules to support the areas of cardiovascular care that can be measured and improved.

Keywords:  NCDR, ACC, cardiovascular quality metrics

Audience:  cardiologists, hospitals, private practices

13.  Quality Metric Certified Scoring

http://www.qualitymetric.com/WhatWeDo/CertifiedScoringSoftwareandServices/QMCertifiedScoringSoftware/tabid/303/Default.aspx

Description: Quality Metric Certified Scoring Software is beneficial for healthcare organizations that want practical, cost effective, and proven certified scoring of vital health survey data.  This software is provided through an email containing a download link.  Data can be imported through a text file, entered through a data grid, or obtained by allowing a patient to complete the survey on-screen.  Quality Metrics Certified Scoring includes eight health domain scores, plus physical and mental component summary measures.

Keywords:  QM Certified scoring, health survey data, on-screen health surveys

Audience:  hospitals, physicians, health insurers

14.  Tableau Software 

http://www.tableausoftware.com/solutions/healthcare-analytics

Description: Miscalculating resources can bring down the quality of healthcare.  To keep efficiency and profitability moving in the right direction it is important to see key healthcare reporting metrics across hospital, programs, and regions.  Data needs to be shared in many different ways so healthcare quality can be managed more effectively.  Tableau can identify patterns of cost and profitability by admission method and specialty.  Tableau also provides interactive and web-based dashboards so staff can get the data they need at the point of care.

Keywords:  healthcare quality metric software, web-based quality metric dashboard

Audience:  risk and quality management, physicians, administration

15.  Scoap

http://www.scoap.org/

Description: SCOAP is the future of surgical quality improvement.  SCOAP is physician led and creates a surveillance and response system for surgical quality.  SCOAP’s goal is to improve quality by reducing variation in process of care and outcomes in the region.  SCOAP is an engaged online community of clinicians that are working together to build a safer, higher quality, and more cost effective surgical healthcare system.

Keywords:  SCOAP, online surgical community, surgical surveillance

Audience:  hospitals, surgeons, clinicians

16.  National Quality Forum

https://www.qualityforum.org/Measuring_Performance/Measuring_Performance.aspx

Description: The National Quality Forum (NQF) has a portfolio of endorsed performance measures that can be used to measure and quantify healthcare processes, outcomes, patient perceptions, and organizational structures that are all associated with the ability to provide high quality care.  Once a measure has been endorsed by NQF, it can be used by hospitals, healthcare systems, and government agencies.

Keywords:  NQF, NQF portfolio, healthcare quality metrics

Audience:  hospitals, healthcare systems, government agencies

17.  Quality Measurement in Dentistry: A Guidebook

http://www.ada.org/sections/dentalPracticeHub/pdfs/DQA_Guidebook_52913.pdf

Description: This Quality Measurement in Dentistry guidebook was developed by the Data Quality Assurance Committee on Education and Communication and serves as the basis for developing standardized messages regarding performance and quality measurement in dentistry.  This guidebook can be used as a source document for those developing messages, resources, and tools to educate various audiences about quality measures.

Keywords:  metrics in quality healthcare, quality healthcare guidebook, DQA Committee

Audience:  dentists, healthcare centers, administrators

18.  Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality

http://www.qualityindicators.ahrq.gov/

Description: The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) has developed an assortment of health care decision-making and research tools that can be used by program managers, researchers, and others in the Federal, State and local levels.  The Quality Indicators (QIs) are measures of healthcare quality that make use of readily available hospital inpatient administrative data.  These QIs can be used to highlight potential quality concerns, identify areas that need further study and help investigate, and track changes.

Keywords:  AHRQ quality research tools, QIs, quality metrics

Audience:  program managers, researchers, physicians

19.  Embracing Quality in Public Health: A Practitioner’s Quality Improvement Guidebook 

http://ctriphtc.yale.edu/resources/445_125142_2012_02_28_Guidebook_web.pdf

Description: This Guidebook is intended for individuals or teams to begin or advance their use of quality improvement models and to improve public health practice and move toward improving outcomes.  The quality improvement models and strategies contained in this Guidebook are science based and laid the groundwork for actually measuring outcomes.

Keywords:  quality improvement guidebook, quality improvement models, healthcare quality

Audience:  public health center, physicians, nurses, administration

20.  Healthcare KPI

http://www.klipfolio.com/resources/kpi-examples/healthcare

Description: Healthcare providers have the important job of managing a huge variety of moving parts at the same time.  For example, patient care, facility management and emergency room conditions.  To be able to do this job effectively, healthcare organizations rely on having access to the latest performance data so they can make the right decision at the right time.  Health KPIs and metrics will give a healthcare team the data they need to provide quality care.  Health KPIs can measure the lab’s ability to process lab results, the amount of time patients are waiting before being seen, length of a patient’s stay in a hospital, and how many beds are occupied in an ER or hospital.

Keywords:  Health KPI, Klipfolio, quality metric dashboard

Audience:  physicians, hospitals, healthcare organizations

21.  Patient Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System

http://www.nihpromis.org

Description: The Patient Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) is a system of highly reliable precise measures of patient reported health status for physical, mental, and social well-being.  PROMIS tools measure what patients are able to do and how they feel by asking questions.  PROMIS tools can be used in a wide variety of chronic diseases and conditions.  PROMIS provides the physician dynamic tools to help measure health outcomes from a patient’s perspective.

Keywords:  PROMIS, quality measurement, patient reported health status

Audience:  healthcare providers, health centers, risk and quality management

22.  Medicaid Quality Measurement Strategy Tool 

http://www.chcs.org/publications3960/publications_show.htm?doc_id=1261493#.UxTqr4WGcqM

Description: Accountable care organizations (ACOs) are becoming popular in Medicaid as an innovative model to improve healthcare quality and reduce costs.  As states design ACO programs for Medicaid populations, they must identify a set of quality measures that align with state and national goals.  This technical assistance tool was developed to help states select quality measures for Medicaid ACO programs.  This tool consists of two parts: key themes and questions to guide a states’ quality measurement strategy and a grid to help states prioritize quality measures.

Keyword:  Medicaid ACO programs, Medicaid Quality Measurement Tool, ACO

Audience:  physicians, healthcare centers, health departments

23.   National Initiative for Children’s Healthcare Quality

http://www.nichq.org/how_we_work/what_is_quality.html

Description: The National Initiative for Children’s Healthcare Quality (NICHQ) provides tools and methods to improve care at the practice, hospital, community, state and national level.  NICHQ offers the best available evidence and formulate policies that help support improvement in quality.  NICHQ works on projects to improve quality and the system of care. Measures are then developed to help experts understand if the changes they make are true improvements.

Keywords:  NICHQ, quality measurement tools, quality methods

Audience:  hospitals, healthcare practices, community healthcare

24.   Humana

https://www.humana.com/provider/support/clinical/quality-resources/

Description: State and federal governments are moving towards a healthcare industry that is driven by quality.  Humana has available resources to help healthcare providers navigate this new quality landscape.  Humana offers a quality improvement program that includes clinical care, preventative care and member services.  Humana’s resources also include twelve documents that introduce specific Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set quality measures.  These twelve documents list codes from several coding systems that can be used to document diagnosis and treatment.

Keywords:  QI Program, HEDIS measures and codes, Humana

Audience:  healthcare providers, risk and quality management, healthcare centers

25.  Intelex Quality Management System

http://www.intelex.com/

Description: Intelex’s Quality Management System (QMS) consists of a flexible set of software applications to effectively manage all aspects of a healthcare organization’s quality program.  QMS allows a healthcare organization to easily manage, track and report all of their quality metrics in real-time.  QMS also helps to comply with regulations and standards.

Keywords:  QMS, healthcare quality applications, quality metrics

Audience:   health centers, hospitals, physicians