• E-mail
• Print
• RSS

Quality of care roundtable report released

Healthcare Auditing Weekly, March 31, 2009

On March 23, the OIG and the Health Care Compliance Association (HCCA) released a report that described the government-industry roundtable on hospital board of directors’ oversight of quality of care, according to an HCCA press release.

The roundtable, held November 10, 2008, included representatives from hospital trade associations, the government, and 27 hospital systems. According to the press release, participants focused on how a hospital board of directors can use information dashboards, or scorecards, as a tool to promote quality of care in their institutions.

Discussion highlights include:  

• Quality improvement initiatives cannot succeed if the board does not create momentum and build organizational will to achieve certain results. Management and medical staff must adhere to the organization’s commitment to quality.
• The board must establish specific system-level goals and use dashboards to help ensure they are meeting those goals.
• Participants observed that providing detailed explanations to board members provides background information and context, builds trust, and demonstrates management’s grasp of the issues.
• The board needs to ensure that each individual feels that his or her job contributes to the hospital’s core quality goals.
• Participants championed practices in which a multidisciplinary team addresses quality concerns and reports the resulting process changes or improvements within the organization.

• E-mail to a Colleague
• Print
• RSS
• Archive