Pratt Regional Medical Center is proud to be one of the 56 Medicare PPS hospitals in Kansas participating in the national quality initiative announced by the American Hospital Association, the Association of American Medical Colleges and the Federation of American Hospitals. Beginning April 1, 2005, helpful information on hospital quality will be available to the general public for the first time through the new consumer Web site www.hospitalcompare.hhs.gov . This site is the outcome of a public-private partnership between hospitals, government and other health care organizations.

Many organizations attempt to measure the quality of health care using different methods. Until now, no national standard has been established to define quality of care. The purpose of the quality initiative is to develop a single standard for measuring the quality of hospital care. This national standard is based on performance measures that are meaningful, measurable and achievable.

The data was collected from the medical records of patients who were hospitalized from January 1, 2004 to June 30, 2004. Patients should use this data as one consideration in assessing the quality of care provided by each hospital. Future reports will include more comprehensive and standardized data.

Pratt Regional Medical Center’s participation in the quality initiative represents a long-term commitment to giving the public information that will help physicians, patients and families make decisions about their medical care.

“Pratt Regional Medical Center is deeply committed to quality improvement and the communication of clinically meaningful information to the community we serve,” Susan Page, PRMC President and CEO said. “The data gathered in these reports are helping hospitals across the state target specific areas for improvement in documentation and care for patients with heart attacks, heart failure and pneumonia.”

Medical knowledge and practice change frequently. Hospitals across the nation will continue to refine the existing measures and develop new measures for the quality of care provided.

This nationwide initiative has the potential of resulting in a national standard for measuring hospital quality. Such a result would benefit consumers, who currently are presented with an array of quality data from numerous sources using different quality measurements. It also will benefit hospitals, which have limited resources to respond to multiple organizations, each measuring quality in a unique way.

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