FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

For Further Information Contact:
Desiree M. Voinche
Manager, Communications and Outreach
voinched@dfmc.org
410-872-9624

Maryland Hospitals and Delmarva Foundation
Partner to Put More Information in Consumers Hands

Easton, MD, September 6, 2005 - Maryland hospitals are making public more information on the quality of care they provide, including information on how they prevent infections associated with surgery. They are also beginning a new phase of partnership with Delmarva Foundation, Medicare’s Quality Improvement Organization in Maryland and the District of Columbia, to improve care, making it safer, more effective and efficient so that every person gets the right care, every time.

Starting earlier this month, three new hospital quality measures will accompany 17 existing publicly reported measures dealing with heart attack, heart failure and pneumonia. The new measures include one for pneumonia care and two measures for procedures that help prevent surgical infections, a new and significant category of hospital quality measure.

All the measures are available for consumers by visiting www.hospitalcompare.hhs.gov or www.medicare.gov and selecting Compare Hospitals in Your Area, or by calling 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227). Either way, Maryland residents get the information they need to help them make more informed healthcare decisions.

“We applaud the commitment to public reporting that Maryland’s hospitals are demonstrating,” said Maulik Joshi, President and CEO of the Delmarva Foundation. “Now we are asking hospitals to take the next step and make a commitment to continue improving their care by partnering with us. We can arm hospitals with the tools and resources they need to transform care and make it safer.”

Maryland has been at the forefront of public reporting since 2002. In addition to the Hospital Compare resource, Marylanders can also get quality information from the Maryland Healthcare Commission’s Hospital Performance Guide. The guide, which also features a unique obstetrics guide, can be accessed at hospitalguide.mhcc.state.md.us.

Delmarva Foundation provides free expert resources to healthcare providers to improve quality of care and transform the way healthcare is delivered. Delmarva will help hospitals achieve transformational change in the quality of care provided to every person in Maryland.

Over the next three years, Delmarva Foundation will work intensively with hospitals in Maryland in order to improve surgical care and inpatient care for heart attacks, heart failure, and pneumonia. These efforts will involve preventing ventilator-associated pneumonia and surgery-related adverse cardiac events, as well as cutting the rate of surgical infections. The goal is to reduce surgical complications in hospitals by 25 percent. Hospital staff will learn how to better avoid errors.

A quality measure is a formula that converts medical information from patient records into a rate or percentage that shows how well a hospital cares for its patients.

The twenty measures now posted on Hospital Compare are:

Heart Attack (Acute Myocardial Infarction or AMI)

• Aspirin at arrival
• Aspirin at discharge
• ACE Inhibitor for Left Ventricular Systolic Dysfunction
• Beta Blocker at arrival
• Beta Blocker at discharge
• Thrombolytic agent received within 30 minutes of hospital arrival
• Percutaneous Coronary Intervention (PCI) received within 120 minutes of hospital arrival
• Adult smoking cessation advice/counseling

Heart Failure

• Assessment of Left Ventricular Function
• ACE Inhibitor for Left Ventricular Systolic Dysfunction
• Discharge Instructions
• Adult smoking cessation advice/counseling

Pneumonia

• Oxygenation Assessment
• Initial Antibiotic Timing
• Pneumococcal Vaccination Status
• Blood culture performed prior to first antibiotic received in hospital
• Adult smoking cessation advice/counseling
• Appropriate Initial Antibiotic Selection*

Surgical Infection Prevention

• Prophylactic Antibiotic Received Within 1 Hour Prior to Surgical Incision*
• Prophylactic Antibiotics Discontinued Within 24 Hours After Surgery End Time*

Note: * denotes measure displayed for the first time in September 2005

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About Delmarva Foundation
Delmarva Foundation is a national, not-for-profit organization dedicated to improving healthcare quality in over 20 states. Since 1973, Delmarva has assisted in improving care in hospitals, nursing homes, home health agencies, medical practices and health plans. Delmarva performs quality improvement, quality assurance, utilization review, external quality review and Program Safeguard activities. The company's corporate headquarters are located in Easton, Maryland with other offices in Baltimore, Maryland; Washington, DC; Columbia, South Carolina; Tampa, Florida; and Tallahassee, Florida. For more information, please visit Delmarva Foundation on the web at www.delmarvafoundation.org.