The Puget Sound Health Alliance has announced that 12 teams from six hospitals across Washington will participate in a nationwide effort to improve healthcare quality.
The program, titled "Aligning Forces for Quality (AF4Q) is funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and designed to help reduce disparities of care and provide models for health reform,.
The AF4Q program is operating in 17 communities across the country: Albuquerque, N.M.; central Indiana; Boston; Cincinnati; Cleveland; Detroit; Humboldt County, California, Kansas City, Mo.; Maine; Memphis, Tenn.; Minnesota; Puget Sound, Washington; south central Pennsylvania; west Michigan; western New York; Willamette Valley, Oregon and Wisconsin.
Each community is spearheading a range of efforts to help doctors, nurses and hospitals measure and improve quality. Alliance leaders said they have led the local effort since 2006.
According to AF4Q officials, the nationwide program is based on the principle that measuring and reporting on healthcare, if done right, can help providers improve their own ability to deliver quality care. It also helps patients and consumers understand their role in demanding high-quality care.
Mary McWilliams, executive director of the alliance, said there is a tremendous variation in the quality of care in Washington, just as there is throughout the country.
"We can work together to reduce that variation so every patient receives excellent care every time," she said. "The hospitals that are participating in this program are part of an effort to systematically improve care throughout the region and we applaud their efforts."
During the project, hospital teams invited by the alliance will pilot improvement strategies over an 18-month period and then share their results with others, both nationally and locally, McWilliams said.
According to McWilliams, hospital teams at Overlake Hospital Medical Center and Valley General Hospital will focus on cardiac care, with the specific goal of reducing readmission rates among heart patients.
The initiative will focus on cardiac care because, whether experiencing a heart attack, heart failure or other conditions, the recommended standard of care for cardiac patients is clear and accepted among medical professionals nationwide, she said.
To improve the amount of time patients wait in emergency rooms, teams at Multicare Allenmore Hospital, Multicare Good Samaritan Hospital, Multicare Tacoma General Hospital and Valley General Hospital will focus on efficiency, McWilliams said.
"Slow throughput frustrates patients and doesn't result in the highest-quality care," she said.
Teams at Multicare Allenmore Hospital, Multicare Good Samaritan Hospital, Overlake Hospital Medical Center, Providence St. Peter Hospital, Multicare Tacoma General Hospital and Valley General Hospital will work to improve the care experience for patients who speak or understand limited English. Patients will receive an initial assessment and discharge instruction from a qualified language services provider, McWilliams said.