Profession
Ore. institution expands publicly released quality data
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted Sept. 25, 2006
The Oregon Health & Science University announced last month that it would release mortality and quality performance data for all patients who receive one or more of 20 clinical services, becoming the first hospital in the state and among the first in the country to do so.
Last year, Oregon began requiring hospitals to report mortality data for a sample of patients who received at least one of eight procedures. OHSU will post the data, along with similar data from other academic health centers for comparison, at its Web site (link).
Quality data through the end of 2005 that are now online show the volume of patients OHSU cared for in areas such as cardiology and vascular surgery. OHSU has met or exceeded University Health System Consortium performance targets for each.
"Health care providers must take the lead in helping the public understand what data are available, what is valuable and what we must do to improve the process by which quality is measured," Jeffrey Kirsch, MD, chair of the OHSU quality executive committee, said in a statement.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2006/09/25/prbf0925.htm.
