Report: Hospitals are improving quality and patient safety

A new report from The Joint Commission finds that U.S. hospitals are improving patient safety and quality when treating patients for common conditions.

The annual report, entitled America’s Hospitals: Improving Quality and Safety, examines the performance of more than 3,300 Joint Commission-accredited on individual patient care measures last year. The measures include children’s asthma, inpatient psychiatric services, venous thromboembolism care, stroke care, perinatal care, immunization, tobacco use treatment, and substance use care.

Hospitals were required in 2015 to choose six measure sets to report to the accreditor, based on the sets that reflected their patient populations and the services provided. Monthly data was submitted on a quarterly basis; the data is made public on The Joint Commission’s Quality Check website.

The report found that accredited hospitals have improved performance on the measures and the quality of care. The annual report can be found here.