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WCHQ to publicly report “Up to this point, WCHQ has focused primarily on the reporting of key primary care measures. Our board has expressed an interest in initiating ambulatory and inpatient specialty care measure reporting and this agreement with the STS is a first step in that process,” said Chris Queram, president and CEO of WCHQ. Based on member feedback, the following report results for isolated coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) have been selected for publication on WCHQ’s website:
A WCHQ work group chose the measures associated with CABG procedures due to the relative high volume of these procedures. These specific measures were chosen because they are potentially easier for the general public to understand and are relevant to many. The severity-adjusted results will be reported by facility in an unblinded fashion. They will include results for all WCHQ members that have provided their written consent. The data set, based on one year of reported data (July 1, 2008 – June 30, 2009), is scheduled to be released in early May, after granting participating organizations a three- to four-week period to preview the reports. It is anticipated the data will be updated annually. WCHQ member, University of Wisconsin Hospital & Clinics, has been sharing its STS data with referring cardiologists and internists for years and recently posted its cardiothoracic data on its web site. “We are a strong proponent of sharing our data publicly. We owe it to our patients to have transparency with respect to our performance. While consumers are only beginning to use this type of data, I believe quality of care clearly improves when data is shared publicly,” stated Niloo Edwards, M.D., chairman, division of cardiothoracic surgery at University of Wisconsin Hospital & Clinics. “People have a tendency to think all institutions are the same, but that is not the case. There is a range in the quality of care and consumers have a right to that information,” said Dr. Edwards. Sue Sanford-Ring, University of Wisconsin Hospital & Clinic’s director of quality and patient safety stated, “Using national registry data to publicly report quality outcomes is an exciting development. Providers want to see this data to continue to improve. Our physicians want to inform the public of their performance.” Purchasers of healthcare see genuine value in WCHQ’s move into specialty care reporting, as well. “I commend WCHQ for expanding into specialty care reporting. To their credit, they have been a national leader in reporting primary care measures and this must continue, but our employers’ cost drivers are in specialty care, including cardiac care. It is critical that specialty care measures be reported publicly for use by consumers,” said Dianne Kiehl, executive director of the Business Health Care Group in Milwaukee. “When providers are compared, they improve,” added Kiehl. WCHQ is planning to report additional specialty care measures, with chronic kidney disease (CKD) being the next clinical condition scheduled for reporting in the fall. In addition, the Wisconsin Medical Society has work groups looking into the variation in resource utilization and episode costs in four high cost specialty areas: orthopedics, cardiology, gastroenterology and behavioral health. WCHQ is represented on each of the groups with the goal of identifying clinical measures appropriate for each specialty. WCHQ thanks the organizations that have agreed to have their CABG performance data publicly reported and encourages other members to consider doing so. The more organizations that report their data, the more valuable it becomes to other members and the public. For more information about this initiative, please contact Sigried Johnson at 608-228-8982 or at sjohnson@wchq.org |
In
what we anticipate will be the first of numerous initiatives to publicly
report specialty care information, WCHQ has struck a data sharing license
agreement on behalf of its members with the Society of Thoracic Surgeons
(STS). The agreement will allow for the development of reports based
on data elements already submitted by WCHQ participating member organizations
through the STS national database registry for those organizations
and surgeons providing written consent. 