QI efforts work--and more QMs appear.The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), previously known as the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA), is a federal agency within the United States Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) that administers the Medicare program and (CMS (1) See content management system and color management system. (2) (Conversational Monitor System) Software that provides interactive communications for IBM's VM operating system. ) Nursing Home Quality Initiative seems to be paying off. CMS reports that since the initiative began in 2002, the percent of residents with chronic pain dropped by more than 30% (from 10.7 to 7.3%), and the reduction has been seen in every state. The chronic pain measure improved each quarter nationally since the program began, CMS says. In addition, the percent of short-stay short-stay short adj (car park) → de courte durée residents experiencing pain decreased nationally by 11% in one year (from 25.4 to 22.6%). Also, the percent of residents who were physically restrained declined by 15% (from 9.7 to 8.2%) nationally, and reduction was seen in 92% of states with, again, improvement seen in each quarter. The pressure ulcer Pressure ulcer Also known as a decubitus ulcer, pressure ulcers are open wounds that form whenever prolonged pressure is applied to skin covering bony outcrops of the body. Patients who are bedridden are at risk of developing pressure ulcers. measure, however, did not change significantly during the past 12 months (from 8.5 to 8.8%). To help realize positive outcomes, quality improvement organizations (QIOs) have contacted more than 99.5% of the nation's 17,000 nursing homes about the Quality Initiative, CMS reports. About 2,500 facilities are working actively with QIOs to improve quality, and more than 60% of nursing homes have attended at least one QIO-sponsored workshop, the report states. CMS has also updated its Nursing Home Compare Web site (www.medicare Medicare, national health insurance program in the United States for persons aged 65 and over and the disabled. It was established in 1965 with passage of the Social Security Amendments and is now run by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. .gov/NHCompare) with, among other things, 14 enhanced quality measures (QMs). A table comparing the ten initial QMs with the enhanced set is available at www.cms.hhs.gov/quality/nhqi/Preview.pdf. |
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