In June 2007, SNI launched its Hospital Performance Improvement Project (PIP). Ending in May 2009, this two-year initiative aimed to make the information that public hospitals collect and report on quality performance more accurate and fully integrated into hospital quality assessment and improvement. It also helped to identify and initiate opportunities for quality improvement in public hospitals, such as participation in performance improvement projects like the IHI 5 Millions Lives Campaign, the Beacon and Southern California Hospital Collaboratives, and the Joint Commission National Patient Safety Goals. The PIP also identified information technology needs that support quality improvement efforts and public reporting. Ultimately, SNI’s work will help increase CAPH member hospitals’ capacity to add new publicly reported measures and benefit from pay-for-performance policies that link quality to reimbursement. As a start, CAPH member hospitals are focusing on ensuring that all patients receive smoking cessation counseling, recommended immunizations, appropriate antibiotics and adequate education before they leave the hospital.
Within these 2 years, CAPH members made measureable improvements in 9 out of 10 selected CMS core measures, including clinical care for hear failure, pneumonia and surgical care. And, the overall rate of improvement exceeded the national average on 8 of 10 measures. California public hospitals now do better or the same as the national average on most of these measures. For more information, please also see the CAPH Issues Brief on Providing High Quality Care With a Commitment to Improvement.