Quality varies widely from state to state
The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality's (AHRQ) annual release of state-by-state quality data continues to give states mixed reviews for the quality of care they provide. As in previous years, AHRQ's 2008 State Snapshots show that no state does well or poorly on all quality measures.
The 2008 State Snapshots provide state-specific health care quality information, including strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities for improvement. The state-level information used to create the State Snapshots is drawn from the 2008 National Healthcare Quality Report, which was released in May by Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.
New features in the 2008 State Snapshots provide more ways to analyze the quality of health care for each state compared with all states, as well as states in the same region.
To access this year's State Snapshots tool, go to: http://statesnapshots.ahrq.gov/.
TJC, HHS team up in language access effort
The Joint Commission (TJC) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights announced that "amid growing concerns about racial, ethnic, and language disparities in health care, "the organizations have developed a video titled "Improving Patient-Provider Communication."
The new video supports language access in health care organizations.
In a joint news release, the organizations said that health care organizations face challenges to accommodate increasingly diverse patient populations — more than 28 million people with hearing loss (National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders estimate), and about 47 million people who speak a language other than English, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
With many competing priorities in health care, the news release states, the video explains why particular attention should be paid to federal civil rights standards and The Joint Commission's accreditation standards pertaining to effective communication and language access.
"Ineffective communication between patients and providers can result in misdiagnosis, inappropriate treatment, or medication errors," says Amy Wilson-Stronks, project director in the division of standards and survey methods and principal investigator for hospitals, language and culture study at TJC.
"When a provider cannot communicate effectively about a disease or treatment, or when a patient cannot describe their illness, they lack the basic connection needed to result in appropriate care. Appropriate communication is necessary for ensuring quality and safety in health care," she says.
The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality's (AHRQ) annual release of state-by-state quality data continues to give states mixed reviews for the quality of care they provide.You have reached your article limit for the month. Subscribe now to access this article plus other member-only content.
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