JCAHO weaves outcomes measurements into accreditation program
The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations has announced a new review process that will focus on outcomes measurements.
The new program, “Oryx: The Next Evolution in Accreditation,” will require the 16,000 hospitals and other healthcare facilities accredited by the JCAHO to choose one of 60 performance measurement systems to report performance data. “This is the first time any accrediting body has integrated outcomes into the review process,” said JCAHO spokesperson Alice Brown. “It’s fine to give guidance on following a set process, but Oryx will show the bottom line: What are your numbers, and what improvements do you need to make based on that.”
The new program will first apply to hospitals and nursing homes, which will need to choose a clinical monitoring system by the end of this year. The next step will require facilities to select two clinical indicators that apply to at least 20 percent of patients. Data on these measures will be submitted quarterly.
“These may be something as simple as the rate of cesarean sections or the number of patients on ventilators who develop infections,” Brown said. The JCAHO will require all the organizations it accredits to report an increasing number of indicators over time. Although facilities and healthcare organizations will not be ranked or compared initially, “ultimately, we would expect that the ability to compare results of standardized measurements will become available over time,” Brown said.
Organizations and facilities seeking a sign of exceptional performance can participate in the JCAHO’s honor program, Oryx Plus. That program will require participants to report on a common set of measurements and to agree to make this data public by late 1999.
Eventually Oryx will be a seven-step program that, in addition to requiring organizations to choose a measurement system and performance data, will mandate collection of data and quarterly submission. The system will then send data to the JCAHO, which will review it and take action if necessary. The JCAHO will provide its surveyors a summary of data collected for three years before each site visit. The JCAHO will make its accreditation decision about an organization following a triennial survey.
“The government, HMOs, providers, and the public have been asking for outcomes data and for a way to measure the quality of care, and we think Oryx will help in that effort,” Brown said.
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