In early 2000, the Hospital Quality Alliance (HQA) developed process-of-care measures to encourage hospitals to deliver evidence-based treatment in four clinical areas—heart attack, heart failure, pneumonia, and surgical care. As part of their participation in the Hospital Quality Incentive Demonstration, Kettering Health Network’s (KHN) hospitals began preparing for data reporting in early 2003, and the first year of data (2004) showed that all KHN hospitals were among the top performers on all of the process-of-care, or “core” measures.
This study was based on publicly available information and self-reported data provided by the case study institution(s). The aim of Commonwealth Fund–sponsored case studies of this type is to identify institutions that have achieved results indicating high performance in a particular area of interest, have undertaken innovations designed to reach higher performance, or exemplify attributes that can foster high performance. The studies are intended to enable other institutions to draw lessons from the studied institutions' experience that will be helpful in their own efforts to become high performers. Even the best-performing organizations may fall short in some areas or make mistakes—emphasizing the need for systematic approaches to improve quality and prevent harm to patients and staff. The Commonwealth Fund is not an accreditor of health care organizations or systems, and the inclusion of an institution in the Fund's case study series is not an endorsement by the Fund for receipt of health care from the institution.
