CHRISTUS St. Catherine Hospital Receives Texas Health Care Quality Improvement Award
CHRISTUS St. Catherine Hospital has received the Texas Health Care Quality Improvement Silver Award from TMF Health Quality Institute, the Medicare quality improvement organization for Texas. TMF established the awards program in partnership with the Texas Hospital Association, Texas Medical Association, Texas Organization of Rural and Community Hospitals, and Texas Osteopathic Medical Association.
Texas Health Care Quality Improvement Awards honor Texas hospitals that are performing quality initiatives aimed at improving outcomes in patient care by recognizing those hospitals that have improved their performance on specific national quality measures.
The awards acknowledge hospitals for improving care related to acute myocardial infarction (AMI) or heart attack, heart failure, pneumonia, and surgical care. These clinical areas have been designated as national healthcare priorities by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and The Joint Commission, an independent nonprofit, standards-setting and accrediting body in healthcare.
The awards recognize hospitals that are active in quality improvement and have made the required improvement on a composite scoring system, called the Appropriate Care Measure (ACM). CMS and The Joint Commission targeted these areas as priorities, because they measure care for common, serious health conditions that affect all adult patients. The quality measures – such as an initial antibiotic dose within four hours of admission for patients with pneumonia – are designed to ensure hospitals provide care consistent with current medical guidelines.
“To achieve this recognition, we had to demonstrate significant improvement across several national quality measures,” says Barbara Lazor, chief nursing officer of CHRISTUS St. Catherine Hospital. “Our success illustrates our commitment to patient safety and to delivering quality health care. It was a significant amount of work, but well worth it because it was the right thing to do for our patients.”
“As a nonprofit consulting company focused on promoting quality health and healthcare, TMF is proud to recognize these hospitals for promoting quality improvement activities and their senior management for promoting a quality culture,” says Tom Manley, chief executive officer of TMF Health Quality Institute. “Quality improvement is a complex and demanding process, and we thank CHRISTUS St. Catherine Hospital for their commitment to improving the health of Texans and the efficiency of healthcare in our state.”
“We know that using proven standards of care can save lives,” says Barbara Lazor, chief nursing officer of CHRISTUS St. Catherine Hospital. “We will continue to enhance our quality improvement efforts through our collaboration with partners and with TMF Health Quality Institute to ensure that every person gets the right care at the right time, every time.”
Criteria for Silver Award Winners
To earn the Silver Award, a hospital must have achieved or maintained performance between 90% and 100% on the Appropriate Care Measure and must have met all other awards requirements. These include collecting data on quality indicators for four rolling quarters beginning October 1, 2010, having mortality scores within the projected range, and submitting the hospital consumer assessment of healthcare providers and systems survey (HCAHPS) data. (Data for mortality rates and HCAHPS are not available for critical access hospitals and, therefore, were not part of the awards criteria for these hospitals.)
For more information on the awards program, see the TMF Health Quality Institute awards website at award.tmf.org. For more information about CHRISTUS St. Catherine Hospital, please visit www.christusstcatherine.org or call 281-599-5700. Please mention you found this on www.KatyMagazine.com.
