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Query: UMLS:C0018801 (heart failure)
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The Hospital Quality Alliance created a vehicle to display Hospital Performance data which is known as Hospital Compare. Overall, the data shows that teaching hospitals perform very well in the areas of Heart Failure and Heart Attack and not as well in Pneumonia care. Unique issues at teaching hospitals, such as timing for specific patient services, continue to be a concern in achieving high scores relative to their non-teaching peers. Most hospitals and specifically surgical services will be challenged in the upcoming years with the addition of the Surgical Care Improvement Project (SCIP) measures as we move into the pay-for-performance era.
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PMID:Quality and safety performance in teaching hospitals. 1712 Sep 48

Using 2006-2007 data from a sample of 6,082 U.S. hospitals, quality of care measures developed by the Hospital Quality Alliance (HQA) are applied to heart attack, heart failure, pneumonia, and surgery. Quality of care for these was related to both higher profits per case and increased number of cases. Length of stay was inversely related to quality of care for preventative (surgical and heart attack) care.
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PMID:The impact of hospital quality on profits, volume, and length of stay. 1981 24

We examine the association between hospital community orientation and quality-of-care measures, which include process measures for patients admitted for acute myocardial infarction, heart failure, and pneumonia as well as measures of patient experience. The community orientation measure is obtained from the 2009 American Hospital Association's Annual Survey Database. Information on hospital quality of care and patient experience comes from 2009 Hospital Quality Alliance data and results from the 2009 Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (Medicare.gov, 2009). To evaluate the relationship between community orientation and measures of quality and patient experience, we used multivariate linear regressions. Organizational and market control variables included bed size, ownership, teaching status, safety net status, number of nurses per patient day, multihospital system status, network status, extent of reliance on managed care, market competition, and location within an Aligning Forces for Quality community (these communities have multistakeholder alliances and focus on improving quality of care at the community level). After controlling for organizational factors, we found that hospitals with a stronger commitment to community orientation perform better on process measures for all three conditions, and they report higher patient experience of care scores for one measure, than do those demonstrating weaker commitment. Hospital commitment to community orientation is significantly related to the provision of high-quality care and to one measure of patient experience of care.
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PMID:Hospital commitment to community orientation and its association with quality of care and patient experience. 2439 48

Mountain State Health Alliance opened a free heart failure clinic after determining that patients' inability to get a timely follow-up appointment and financial issues were the cause of many readmissions. The clinic is in a convenient location, across the street from the hospital. The nurse practitioner who runs the program sees many of the patients while they are still in the hospital to inform them about the clinic. Interventions include help signing up for medication assistance, education for patients and family members, and ongoing support.
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PMID:Free heart failure clinic aims to cut readmissions. 2450 36

Elevated blood pressure, a major risk factor for ischemic heart disease, heart failure, and stroke, is the leading global risk for mortality. Treatment and control rates are very low in low- and middle-income countries. There is an urgent need to address this problem. The Global Alliance for Chronic Diseases sponsored research projects focus on controlling hypertension, including community engagement, salt reduction, salt substitution, task redistribution, mHealth, and fixed-dose combination therapies. This paper reviews the rationale for each approach and summarizes the experience of some of the research teams. The studies demonstrate innovative and practical methods for improving hypertension control.
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PMID:Innovative Approaches to Hypertension Control in Low- and Middle-Income Countries. 2788 93

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to describe standardized clinical process of care and quality performance metrics at Roane Medical Center (RMC) and compare data from 2005 to 2015. Design/methodology/approach Information was extracted from a nationwide sample of short-term acute care hospitals using the Hospital Quality Alliance (HQA) database, evaluating multiple parameters measured at RMC. HQA data from RMC were matched against state and national benchmarks; findings were also compared with similar reports from the same facility in 2005. Findings Information collected by HQA expanded substantially in ten years and queried different parameters over time, thus exact comparisons between 2005 and 2015 cannot be easily calculated. Nevertheless, analysis of process of care data for 2015 placed RMC at or above state- and national-average performance in 64.9 percent (24 of 37) and 56.5 percent (26 of 46) categories, respectively. RMC registered superior process of care scores in heart failure care, pneumonia care, thrombus prevention and care, as well as stroke care. While RMC continues to perform favorably against state and national reference groups, the differences between RMC vs state and RMC vs national averages using current reporting metrics were both statistically smaller in 2015 compared to 2005 ( p<0.05). Research limitations/implications Perhaps the most significant interval health event for the RMC service area since 2005 was a coal ash spill at the nearby Tennessee Valley Authority facility in December 2008. Although reports on environmental and health effects following one of the largest domestic industrial toxin releases reached a number of important conclusions, the consequences for RMC in terms of potential added clinical burden on emergency services and impact on chronic health conditions have not been specifically studied. This could explain data reported on emergency department services at RMC but additional research will be needed to establish causality. Practical implications While tracking of care processes at all US hospitals will be facilitated by refinements in HQA tools, longitudinal evaluations for any specific unit will be more meaningful if the assessment instrument undergoes limited change over time. Social implications Appalachia remains one of several regions in the USA often identified as medically underserved. Hospitals here have confronted the challenge of diminished reimbursement, high expenses, limited staffing and other financial hardships in a variety of ways. Since the last published report on RMC, a particularly severe global recession has placed additional stress on organizations offering crucial health services in the region. Originality/value As a follow-up study to track potential changes which have been registered in the decade 2005-2015, this is the first report to provide original, longitudinal analysis on RMC, an institution operating in a rural and underserved area.
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PMID:A decade of health assessments in Appalachia. 2847 Jan 35