Patient Safety and Quality

AHRQ, a part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is the lead agency charged with supporting research designed to improve the quality of healthcare, reduce its cost, improve patient safety, decrease medical errors, and broaden access to essential services. AHRQ sponsors and conducts research that provides evidence-based information on healthcare outcomes; quality; and cost, use, and access. The information helps healthcare decision-makers (patients and clinicians, health network leaders, and policy makers) make more informed decisions and improve the quality of healthcare services.

The American Health Quality Association represents Quality Improvement Organizations (QIOs) and professionals working to improve the quality of health care in communities across America. QIOs share information about best practices with physicians, hospitals, and nursing homes. Working together with health care providers, QIOs identify opportunities and provide assistance for improvement.

The American Hospital Association (AHA) is the national organization that represents and serves all types of hospitals, health care networks, and their patients and communities. Through our representation and advocacy activities, AHA ensures that members’ perspectives and needs are heard and addressed in national branches and include the legislative and regulatory arenas.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is one of the major operating components of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). CDC has remained at the forefront of public health efforts to prevent and control infectious and chronic diseases, injuries, workplace hazards, disabilities, and environmental health threats. Working with states and other partners, CDC provides a system of health surveillance to monitor and prevent disease outbreaks (including bioterrorism), implement disease prevention strategies, and maintain national health statistics. CDC also guards against international disease transmission.

Formerly known as the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA), the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) are responsible for administering the Medicare, Medicaid, State Children’s Health Insurance (SCHIP), Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA), and several other health-related programs.

CAPS is a consumer-led nonprofit organization formed to be a collective voice for individuals, families and healers who wish to prevent harm in healthcare encounters through partnership and collaboration. CAPS is committed to exploring and contributing the wisdom and experience that consumers can offer to patient safety research, education of both consumers and providers, reporting of bad outcomes and near misses, development and implementation of solutions that can prevent harm, and policy making that will help create healthcare networks that are safe, compassionate and just.

ECRI Institute provides public access to patient safety resources and services. ECRI brings the discipline of applied scientific research to discover which medical procedures, devices, drugs and processes are best, all to enable you to improve patient care.

Formerly known as PRONJ, HQSI is dedicated to accelerating improvement in healthcare quality for people with Medicare in New Jersey. HQSI works with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to focus on national clinical priority topics for quality improvement (i.e., heart failure, pneumonia). These diseases and conditions are causes of high morbidity and mortality among the Medicare population and the United States population as a whole. HQSI, participates in efforts on a national, as well as local basis to improve the quality of health in these clinical conditions.

Hospital Compare is a consumer-oriented website that provides information on how well hospitals provide recommended care to their patients. On this site, the consumer can see the recommended care that an adult should get if being treated for a heart attack, heart failure, or pneumonia or having surgery. The performance rates for this website reflect care provided to all U.S. adults.

The Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) is a not-for-profit organization leading the improvement of health care throughout the world. IHI is a reliable source of energy, knowledge, and support for a never-ending campaign to improve health care worldwide. The Institute helps accelerate change in health care by cultivating promising concepts for improving patient care and turning those ideas into action.

The nation turns to the Institute of Medicine (IOM) of the National Academies for science-based advice on matters of biomedical science, medicine, and health. A nonprofit organization specifically created for this purpose, the IOM was chartered in 1970 as a component of the National Academy of Sciences. The Institute provides a vital service by working outside the framework of government to ensure scientifically informed analysis and independent guidance. The IOM’s mission is to serve as adviser to the nation to improve health. The Institute provides unbiased, evidenced-based, and authoritative information and advice concerning health and science policy to policy-makers, professionals, leaders in every sector of society, and the public at large.

The Joint Commission is the nation’s predominant standards-setting and accrediting body in health care. Since 1951, the Joint Commission has maintained state-of-the-art standards that focus on improving the quality and safety of care provided by health care organizations. The Joint Commission’s comprehensive accreditation process evaluates an organization’s compliance with these standards and other accreditation requirements.

Joint Commission Resources, Inc. is a global, knowledge-based organization which disseminates information regarding accreditation, standards development and compliance, good practices, and health care quality improvement. Through education programs, as well as health care consulting, publications and multimedia products, JCR provides expertise on every aspect of accreditation, performance improvement, and the many other issues organizations face in a challenging health care environment.

The Joint Commission International Center for Patient Safety is a joint initiative of the Joint Commission (TJC) and Joint Commission Resources (JCR). The Center leverages the expertise, resources and knowledge from both the Joint Commission and JCR, and works collaboratively with other leading organizations and agencies to provide patient safety solutions to health care organizations worldwide. The mission of the Center is: To continuously improve patient safety in all health care settings.

Our patients and visitors are encouraged to contact Hackensack Meridian Health management regarding any patient safety and quality concerns at 1-844-HMH-WELL.

Additionally, patient safety concerns can be reported to The Joint Commission:

• On line at: www.jointcommission.org, using the “Report a Patient Safety Event” link in the “Action Center” on the home page of the website
• By fax to 630-792-5636
• By mail to Office of Quality and Patient Safety, The Joint Commission, One Renaissance Boulevard, Oakbrook Terrace, IL 60181

Quality Check is a comprehensive guide Joint Commission-accredited health care organizations and programs throughout the United States.

The National Association for Healthcare Quality (NAHQ) is the nation’s leading organization for healthcare quality professionals. Its goal is to promote the continuous improvement of quality in healthcare by providing educational and development opportunities for professionals at all management levels and within all healthcare settings.

The National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) is a private, not-for-profit organization dedicated to improving health care quality. The NCQA seal is a widely recognized symbol of quality. Organizations incorporating the seal into advertising and marketing materials must first pass a rigorous, comprehensive review and must annually report on their performance. For consumers and employers, the seal is a reliable indicator that an organization is well-managed and delivers high quality care and service.

The National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) is a private, not-for-profit organization dedicated to improving health care quality. The NCQA seal is a widely recognized symbol of quality. Organizations incorporating the seal into advertising and marketing materials must first pass a rigorous, comprehensive review and must annually report on their performance. For consumers and employers, the seal is a reliable indicator that an organization is well-managed and delivers high quality care and service.

The National Patient Safety Foundation is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to improving the safety of patients. We accomplish this through our efforts to: identify and create a core body of knowledge; identify pathways to apply the knowledge; develop and enhance the culture of receptivity to patient safety; and raise public awareness and foster communications about patient safety.

The purpose of the Joint Commission’s (TJC) National Patient Safety Goals (NPSG) is to promote specific improvements in patient safety. The Goals highlight problematic areas in health care and describe evidence and expert-based solutions to these problems. As with Joint Commission standards, accredited organizations are evaluated for continuous compliance with the specific requirements associated with the NPSGs. TJC provides guidance on how to achieve effective compliance with each Goal’s requirements. This guidance includes detailed answers to Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs).

The National Quality Forum is a not-for-profit membership organization created to develop and implement a national strategy for healthcare quality measurement and reporting. The mission of the NQF is to improve American healthcare by setting national priorities and goals for performance improvement, endorsing national consensus for measuring and publicly reporting on performance, and promoting the attainment of national goals through education and outreach programs.

Falls are the leading cause of injuries and death among older adults. However, most falls can be prevented especially with a little research, diligence and a few extra steps. This guide covers the common ways in which seniors get injured and how these injuries can be prevented. There is an emphasis on falls because they are the leading cause of injuries and death from injuries among people 65 and older.