11/7/2016

PITTSBURGH, Nov. 7, 2016 – Eleven UPMC hospitals received national recognition from The Joint Commission, the leading accreditor of health care organizations in the United States, for their contributions to electronical clinical quality measure (eCQM) adoption. UPMC hospitals made up more than one quarter of the 39 hospitals recognized across the country.

The recognition appears in The Joint Commission’s Annual Report, “America’s Hospitals: Improving Quality and Safety,” as part of its Pioneers in Quality™ program to acknowledge hospitals at the forefront of a new era in health care quality reporting.

Historically, hospitals collected measure information by manually abstracting data from patient records. Today, through eCQMs, a clinical quality measure that uses structured, encoded data present in the electronic health record, hospitals can electronically collect and transmit data on the quality of care that patients receive—data that can be analyzed to measure and improve care processes, performance and outcomes.

UPMC’s hospitals were named Pioneers in Quality “Data Contributors” for voluntarily transmitting 2015 eCQM data during 2016. Facilities that were recognized include Magee-Womens Hospital of UPMC, UPMC Altoona, UPMC Bedford Memorial, UPMC East, UPMC Hamot, UPMC McKeesport, UPMC Mercy, UPMC Northwest, UPMC Passavant, UPMC Presbyterian Shadyside and UPMC St. Margaret.

“We are thrilled to be recognized by The Joint Commission,” said Tami Minnier, UPMC’s chief quality officer. “It reflects our staff’s commitment to continuous quality improvement. Like The Joint Commission, we believe gathering and analyzing performance data are crucial to improving quality of care and outcomes for all patients.”

“We commend UPMC for achieving this special recognition. Out of 3,300 hospitals, UPMC is at the forefront of embracing new technology to submit data about the care it is providing to patients and is voluntarily sharing its experiences to help other hospitals,” said David W. Baker, M.D., M.P.H., F.A.C.P., executive vice president, Division of Health Care Quality Evaluation, The Joint Commission.

The Joint Commission developed the Pioneers in Quality program to assist health care organizations in their transition to electronic reporting. It includes educational webinars for continuing education units, a comprehensive eCQM resource portal, a Pioneers in Quality Technical Advisory Panel and outreach from The Joint Commission’s Speaker’s Bureau. For more information on the Pioneers in Quality program, visit The Joint Commission website.