HQIP Hospitals Show Improvement in All Trending Measures!

Full Year 2008 Data Now Available

Quality Trends
The following trend charts show Greater Cincinnati hospital overall performance for 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008 for quality measures related to heart attack and congestive heart failure. These measures assess how often recommended care (such as giving aspirin to heart attack patients) is delivered when it is appropriate. A three-year comparison is presented for pneumonia because the data for that measure was not included in the Hospital Quality Improvement Project until 2006. Only process of care measures with two full years of collected data are included in the averages on the charts. For that reason, data for surgical care are not yet included. As of January 1, 2010, the most recent data for all measures on this website is from 2008. Data for the full year of 2009 will be available in January 2011.

Hospitals were measured on whether patients received all of the recommended treatment for which they were eligible. This is called an “all or none” methodology. For each condition on these charts (heart attack, heart failure and pneumonia), performance is determined at the patient level, summarized for each individual hospital and then summarized for all of the Greater Cincinnati hospitals participating in this project.

A hospital’s process of care performance score is calculated with this formula (per condition):
Total # patients receiving all care measures/Total # patients qualifying for the care = % score

Click here for a glossary of terms.

2008 Highlights

Heart Attack Performance Charts The charts below show the Greater Cincinnati area hospitals' performance in seven individual measures of heart attack.1 The blue vertical bars reflect all combined hospitals' performance for the respective years. The green lines represent the average for the state of Ohio, and the pink lines reflect the national average.2
Graph Key: Average for the State of Ohio National Average
Heart Attack: Aspirin Given with 24 Hours of Arrival	Heart Attack: Aspirin Prescribed at Discharge
Heart Attack: Patients Given ACE Inhibitor or ARB for Left Ventricular Systolic Dysfunction (LVSD)	Heart Attack: Smoking Cessation Advice or Counseling Offered
Heart Attack: Beta Blockers Prescribed at Discharge	Heart Attack: Fibrinolytic Medication Given Within 30 Minutes Of Arrival
Heart Attack: Patients Given PCI Within 90 Minutes Of Arrival
Heart Failure Performance Charts The charts below show the Greater Cincinnati area hospitals' performance in four individual measures of heart failure.1 The gray vertical bars reflect all combined hospitals' performance for the respective years. The green lines represent the average for the state of Ohio, and the pink lines reflect the national average.2
Graph Key: Average for the State of Ohio National Average
Congestive Heart Failure: Patients Given Discharge Instructions	Congestive Heart Failure: Patients Given an Evaluation of Left Ventricular Systolic (LVS) Function
Congestive Heart Failure: Patients Given ACE Inhibitor or ARB for Left Ventricular Systolic Dysfunction (LVSD)	Congestive Heart Failure: Smoking Cessation Advice or Counseling Offered
Pneumonia Performance Charts The charts below show the Greater Cincinnati area hospitals' performance in eight individual measures of pneumonia.1 The purple vertical bars reflect all combined hospitals' performance for the respective years. The green lines represent the average for the state of Ohio, and the pink lines reflect the national average.2
Graph Key: Average for the State of Ohio National Average
Pneumonia: Patients Given Oxygenation Assessment	Pneumonia: Patients Given Pneumococcal Vaccination
Pneumonia: Blood Cultures Performed Within 24 hours Prior to or 24 hours After Hospital Arrival for Patients Who are Transferred or Admitted to the ICU within 24 hours of Hospital Arrival *No comparison data is available for this measure	Pneumonia: Patients Whose Initial Emergency Room Blood Culture Was Performed Prior to the Administration of the First Dose of Antibiotics
Pneumonia: Smoking Cessation Advice or Counseling Offered	Pneumonia: Patients Given Initial Antibiotic(s) Within 6 Hours After Arrival
Pneumonia: Antibiotic Selection for Immunocompetent Patients - ICU and Non ICU *No comparison data is available for this measure	Pneumonia: Patients Given Influenza Vaccination
Footnotes Greater Cincinnati area hospital performance data is provided by the Greater Cincinnati Health Council and the Ohio Hospital Association Ohio hospital performance averages and National hospital performance averages are provided by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services   Data from Previous Years To download the Greater Cincinnati Hospital Quality Improvement Project (HQIP) reports from previous years, please click on the link below of the year you wish to view: 2007 hospital performance data 2006 hospital performance data 2005 hospital performance data

Glossary of Terms
ACE inhibitors, or inhibitors of Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme, are a group of medicines that are used primarily in treatment of hypertension and congestive heart failure, in some cases as the drugs of first choice.

Angina: Chest pain due to lack of oxygen supply.

Angiotensin Receptor Blockers (ARBs) are a group of medicines used in hypertension (high blood pressure), diabetic nephropathy (kidney damage due to diabetes) and congestive heart failure.

Antibiotic - Medicine used to fight bacteria in the body.

Arrhythmia is an irregular heart beat, faster or slower than normal.

Atherosclerosis - Commonly referred to as a "hardening" of the arteries. It is caused by the formation of multiple plaques within the arteries.

Beta Blockers (sometimes written as β-blockers) are a class of drugs used for various indications, but particularly for the management of hypertension and cardiac arrhythmias.

Cerebral Perfusion is the net supply of blood flow to the brain.

Chronic is long-lasting and recurrent or characterized by long suffering.

Colonoscopy is the internal examination of the lower intestine.

Colorectal – Having to do with the colon and/or rectum.

Endoscopy means looking inside and refers to looking inside the human body for medical reasons.

Gastrointestinal Hemorrhage - Bleeding in the gastrointestinal tract.

Graft - A surgical procedure to transplant tissue without a blood supply.

HQIP - Hospital Quality Improvement Project” is a voluntary project that brings together - in a non-competitive setting - businesses, hospital quality management professionals, hospital medical directors and physicians practicing out in the community. This locally designed, collaborative effort provides performance measures and tools for hospitals to use to improve the quality of care in their respective facilities as well as the community’s quality of services as a whole.

Hyperthermia – Body temperature that is above normal.

Hypothermia - Body temperature that is below normal.

Lamina - Surface.

Laminectomy - Surgical removal of part of a vertebra (back bone). Usually done to relieve pressure on a spinal nerve caused by a herniated disk or bony spur.

Left Ventricular Function (LVF) is the assessment of how well the left ventricle is working.

Left Ventricular Ejection Fraction (LVEF) is the fraction of blood pumped out of the left ventricle with each heartbeat.

Left Ventricular Systolic Dysfunction (LVSD) - An abnormal performance of the left ventricle or the muscular chamber of the heart. LVSD may often occur in the period following a heart attack and greatly increases patients' risk for recurrent heart attacks, heart failure or other deadly events.

Mortality is the rate of death.

Normothermia – Body temperature that is normal.

Percutaneous Coronary Interventions (PCI) - Procedures done for diagnosis or therapy which reach the heart through major blood vessels instead of having to open the chest.

Perioperative – The duration of a surgical procedure.

Postoperative – After a surgical procedure.

Prophylaxis – Medical measures to maintain a patient’s health.

Proton Pump Inhibitors (or PPIs) are a group of drugs designed to bring forth pronounced and long-lasting reduction of gastric acid production.

Respiratory Tract is the part of the anatomy that has to do with the process of respiration or breathing.

Spinal Stenosis is a medical condition where the spinal canal narrows and compresses the spinal cord and nerves. This is usually due to the natural process of spinal degeneration that occurs with aging.

Thrombolysis is the breakdown (lysis) by pharmacological means, of blood clots. It is sometimes referred to as clot busting for this reason.

Thrombolytic is an agent that facilitates the breakdown of blood clots.

Tranexamic Acid is often prescribed for excessive bleeding.

Vasopressin Analogues are chemicals similar in function to desmopressin. Taking a desmopressin dose 30-45 minutes before sleeping results in concentrated urine production, and the urination reflex experienced when the bladder fills above a certain level is not triggered.

Venous Thromboembolism – happens when a blood clot forms that can possibly cause blood flow from the heart to the lungs to become blocked.  This is one of the most common problems that can happen after a surgery. 

Key for Length of Stay, Mortality and Readmission:

	Better than predicted.
	As predicted.
	Worse than predicted.