Looking to the future: How TJC may use data
Currently, core measure data are used "in the context of a variety of processes here at The Joint Commission" including in public reporting and the priority focus process, says Jerob Loeb, PhD, The Joint Commission's vice president, division of quality measurement and research. The latter, he says, "is a process whereby we take a wide variety of information we know about an organization, including its performance measurement data, complaint data, possible sentinel events, etc., and we use a fairly sophisticated algorithm to create areas of focus for our surveyors when they are on site, specifically related to particular clinical areas."
But the ways in which The Joint Commission uses your data may be changing, and the change may be significant in terms of your accreditation. "Very importantly," Loeb says, "one thing we have not done to date, and that's going to change soon, is connect the dots as it pertains to the fact that all we've basically said to organizations is, 'Report the data to us.' We have a standard in the information management chapter that says you should be using the data internally. But we've never held an organization's feet to the fire and said we are going to create an expectation that says that if performance is not at the level of X, Y, and Z, that will have an impact or potential impact on your accreditation status."
That, he says, is now being rethought and "very soon" The Joint Commission will be seeking input from the field on this to create a standard "that will specify an organization's performance needs to either meet or exceed a specific target that we will set or the organization will receive a requirement for improvement." He expects this standard to be implemented "probably" by January 2012.
How the target will be set is in question whether it be per individual measures or creating a composite in a given clinical area such as heart attack but he says a consensus opinion will be produced through industry input, focus groups, and advisory committees. For example, he says, the target could be 85% of patients receive aspirin at arrival or an average of all the measures of each MI set or heart failure set. The overarching goal is to create high reliability.
Loeb says currently core measures require reporting with no impact on organizations' accreditation or payment by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. But with the coming of value-based purchasing in 2013, "we are trying to raise the bar earlier for hospitals to help them be positioned" for the changes.
He says The Joint Commission is also now considering a "recognition/reward program" for hospitals that are performing well and performing well consistently and a "solutions exchange" in which organizations that are doing well share their systems and processes. As for reportable measures, he says, the organization is "hoping to stimulate national dialogue on these criteria to open up space in the measurement arena for new and better measures to replace some of those that are creating essentially wasted work effort on the part of hospitals that have precious resources to expend on this."
Currently, core measure data are used "in the context of a variety of processes here at The Joint Commission" including in public reporting and the priority focus process, says Jerob Loeb, PhD, The Joint Commission's vice president, division of quality measurement and research.You have reached your article limit for the month. Subscribe now to access this article plus other member-only content.
- Award-winning Medical Content
- Latest Advances & Development in Medicine
- Unbiased Content