Parkview Medical Center is one of the top-performing hospitals in the country in the pneumonia process-of-care measures, or "core," measures. The core measures, developed by the Hospital Quality Alliance, relate to achievement of recommended treatment in four clinical areas: heart attack, heart failure, pneumonia, and surgical care. In addition to performing strongly in the pneumonia care core measures, Parkview has achieved 99 percent compliance in the heart failure core measures.
Hospital leaders credit the organization's strong performance in pneumonia care to the regular communication and reinforcement provided by quality improvement staff. Concurrent review in particular is relied on as an opportunity to provide real-time education and reminders to providers at the point of care. Those interviewed also emphasize that the hospital leaders are willing to try anything in the name of improving patient care.
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.
