The Center Supports Healthcare Quality Improvement Initiatives in Northeast Ohio
The Center for Health Affairs supports the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s national healthcare quality improvement initiatives in Northeast Ohio by working with Better Health Greater Cleveland, an alliance of regional stakeholders that is committed to improving the health and quality of care for Greater Cleveland’s residents with common chronic medical conditions.
Cleveland, represented by The Center for Health Affairs and Better Health Greater Cleveland, is one of the 17 diverse communities across the United States participating in Aligning Forces for Quality (AF4Q), the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s signature effort to improve the quality and value of healthcare. In order to support healthcare quality improvement initiatives in local communities, AF4Q introduced the Hospital Quality Network (HQN) aimed at helping hospitals increase the quality, efficiency and equality of provided care.
A total of 139 hospitals nationwide are participating in HQN, with 11 of them right here in Northeast Ohio. HQN includes three separate initiatives: reducing heart failure readmissions, increasing emergency department throughput, and improving language services. Cleveland hospitals have chosen to focus their efforts on reducing heart failure readmissions.
In addition to benefiting patients, HQN, which stretches through March 2012, will also help hospitals meet a variety of measures and standards by the Joint Commission, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and the meaningful use criteria regarding electronic medical records.
In line with creating an environment of high-quality patient care, participating Northeast Ohio hospitals plan to share local best practices and lessons learned coupled with identifying programs nationally that have potential for adaptation in Northeast Ohio.
The Center has participated in Better Health Greater Cleveland through oversight and coordination of the Transitions of Care Collaborative, an initiative under the Better Health umbrella aimed at reducing hospital readmissions.
For more information, please contact Linda Neiding at 216.255.3666 or at linda.neiding@chanet.org, or Lisa Anderson at 216.255.3660 or at lisa.anderson@chanet.org.