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Joint Commission recognizes St. Luke’s for quality measures
St. Luke’s Health System in Idaho is being recognized by the Joint Commission as a Pioneer in Quality for 2018. The announcement highlights St. Luke’s contributions to electronic clinical quality measure (eCQM) data for quality improvement in health care.
Until recently, most hospitals collected information to measure health care quality by manually abstracting data from patient records. Through eCQMs, which rely on structured, encoded data present in the electronic health record, hospitals can now electronically collect and transmit data on the quality of care that patients receive. The electronic data can be analyzed to measure and improve care processes, performance and outcomes.
The Joint Commission, the United States’ leading accreditor of health care organizations, established the Pioneers in Quality™ program to assist and recognize accredited hospitals, critical access hospitals and health systems that report eCQM data, as well as share best practices for all hospitals and systems in gathering, analyzing and leveraging eCQM data for quality improvement.
Of more than 3,200 Joint Commission-accredited hospitals that reported 2017 data, only 25 have been named 2018 Pioneers in Quality™ as hospitals or as a part of health system that achieved criteria in one or both of the following categories, Expert Contributor and Solution Contributor. St. Luke’s is among the Solution Contributors for documenting its eCQM practice for The Joint Commission’s Proven Practice review. The Joint Commission says St. Luke’s displayed excellence in its eCQM implementations and their contributions are also reflected within the Proven Practices Collection.
“We commend St. Luke’s Health System as a 2018 Pioneers in Quality™ organization for its contributions and commitment to electronic clinical quality measure data and practice toward quality improvement,” said David W. Baker, MD, MPH, FACP, executive vice president, Division of Health Care Quality Evaluation, the Joint Commission.
“Out of 3,200 Joint Commission-accredited hospitals that reported 2017 data, St. Luke’s is among only 25 that The Joint Commission has recognized this year for embracing new technology to submit data about the care it provides to patients. That work to voluntarily share information helps the entire industry move forward in utilizing electronic clinical quality measurement for health care improvement.”
Pioneers in Quality™ recognition is not an indicator or measure of data quality or quality of care, but an indicator of an organization’s commitment to adopting eCQMs toward quality improvement. It recognizes eCQM data reporting and other contributions that advance eCQM adoption in health care. Visit The Joint Commission online for more information.
About The Author
Anita Kisseé was the Treasure Valley public relations manager for St. Luke’s Health System.
