Following up on last week’s blog on key resources for hospital executives, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) offers valuable information on transformation and other improvement initiatives. Their website (link below) provides insight into topics that should be top-of-mind in today’s environment.

The Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS) surveys are a case in point. The results of CAHPS surveys, which ask patients to report on and evaluate their experiences with providers, are in the public domain. The data is not only accessible to healthcare consumers but is also used by public and private purchasers of healthcare, regulators, quality monitors and community groups. Organizations and consumers will increasingly use the survey results to inform their decisions about healthcare services.

Other topics addressed include AHRQ Quality Indicators (QIs), which are metrics of hospital quality and safety derived from readily available hospital inpatient administrative data. Hospitals across the country use the QIs to track their performance over time as well as identify potential problems related to quality and safety.

Hospital construction is another key topic. Approximately $200 billion will be invested over the next ten years to build new hospitals. As noted by the agency, “the United States is embarking upon one of the largest hospital building booms in the nation's history… this new construction is being undertaken to replace aging hospitals, incorporate new technologies and medical practices, and respond to external market factors, including America's growing and aging population.”

To learn more, visit: http://www.ahrq.gov/index.html