Quality Update for June 4, 2004

ACE Inhibitor Use Drops After Hospital Stay, Study Shows New Jersey Unveils Online Health Tool JCAHO to Publish Quality Report More Insurance Plans Tracking Race, Study Shows Toolkit to Help Hospitals With Surgical Safety Protocol ACE Inhibitor Use Drops After Hospital Stay, Study Shows Use of angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors by heart failure patients drops sharply within a month after they go home from the hospital and then continues to decline, according to a study in the June 2 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. Researchers reviewed data on 1,059 heart failure patients who were enrolled in both Medicare and the Tennessee Medicaid (TennCare) program at the time of their hospitalization. Patients who are enrolled in both programs are covered for both hospitalization and outpatient medications. Federal and state records allowed the researchers to collect clinical information and track prescription use. Among patients with depressed ejection fraction (one form of heart failure), 67% were discharged with ACE inhibitor medications. Four out of five of these patients filled an ACE inhibitor prescription within 30 days after discharge. After a year, only two-thirds of patients discharged with ACE inhibitors were still filling their prescriptions. Among all heart failure patients (including those with preserved ejection fraction), 55% left the hospital with ACE inhibitors. Of that group, 77% filled a prescription within 30 days and 63 percent were still filling prescriptions a year after discharge. Among patients who did not receive a discharge order for ACE inhibitors, only about one in eight filled a prescription within 30 days. The study did not look reasons for prescription use decline. For more info, www.acc.org/media/releases/highlights/2004/june04/medication.pdf Back to top New Jersey Unveils Online Health Tool Several New Jersey public and private groups have worked to develop an online tool designed to help New Jersey residents receive better patient care. “`How’s Your Health, NJ?’ will enable consumers to receive a quick check- up on their health needs, become better health care consumers, and improve communication with their doctors,” Verplanck said. “I am proud that our state has become the first in the nation to roll out this new and important health care tool for its citizens.” The primary objectives of the “How’s Your Health, NJ?” program include: Educating patients to empower them to manage their health conditions more effectively; Improving the patient-primary care provider relationship while improving patient satisfaction, minimizing unnecessary costs, and improving patient health status; Measuring whether there are differences in results with assistance from a health educator; and Addressing needed improvements to show change in the results from the poor rankings for health care quality in New Jersey. For more info, www.howsyourhealthnj.com Back to top JCAHO to Publish Quality Report The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations plans to publish a new report on its website highlighting accredited hospitals’ quality information. The hospital-specific quality reports, which JCAHO plans to release publicly July 15, will feature information on hospitals’ accreditation and disease-specific care certification. Quality awards, including the American Hospital Association’s Quest for Quality Prize, will also be released. Hospitals will be able to compare their performance on JCAHO’s National Patient Safety Goals and National Quality Improvement Goals with that of other hospitals, both nationally and statewide. Hospitals can view their data by visiting www.jcaho.org/quality+check/overview/index.htm. Hospitals will have 30 days to review their data and notify JCAHO of any inaccurate information. Hospitals also can submit commentary to be included in the report. For more info, qualityreport@jcaho.org. Back to top More Insurance Plans Tracking Race, Study Shows A study funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation suggests that many of America’s health plans are collecting key member information needed to reverse unequal treatment among the races. The study, done in collaboration with America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), shows that more than half the nation’s health plans, 53.5%, collect data that identifies the race or ethnicity of their enrollees. Most Medicaid health plans, 78.2%, collect racial and ethnic identifiers on enrollees as do many Medicare plans, 74.3%, while one in two commercial plans, 50.9%, collect such data. Health plans report they collect such data on enrollees in order to identify enrollees at risk for certain conditions, to support educational and other communication efforts directed to diverse populations and to structure quality improvement efforts. For more info, www.rwjf.org/news/special/trackingRace.jhtml. Back to top Toolkit to Help Hospitals With Surgical Safety Protocol The Association of Periperative Registered Nurses (AORN) has sent a toolkit to every hospital in the U.S. designed to help them comply with the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations’ new surgical safety protocol before JCAHO’s July 1 implementation deadline. For more info, www.aorn.org. Back to top

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