The Joint Commission has recognized Prime Healthcare hospitals as 2017 Pioneers in Quality™ Contributors

Prime Hospitals recognized for quality improvement in health care

(Ontario, CA – November 16, 2017) –The Joint Commission has recognized Prime Healthcare as a Pioneer in Quality contributor. Prime hospitals have implemented new technology to electronically share clinical quality measure (eCQM) data to The Joint Commission to measure and improve care processes, performance and outcomes.

“We commend Prime Healthcare as a 2017 Pioneers in Quality™ organization for its contributions and commitment to electronic clinical quality measure data and practice toward quality improvement,” said David W. Baker, MD, MPH, FACP, executive vice president, Division of Health Care Quality Evaluation, The Joint Commission. “Out of 3,200 health care organizations, Prime Healthcare is among only 480 that The Joint Commission has recognized this year for embracing new technology to submit data about the care it provides to patients. That work to voluntarily share information helps the entire industry move forward in utilizing electronic clinical quality measurement for health care improvement.”

Until recently, most hospitals collected information to measure health care quality by manually abstracting data from patient records. Today, through eCQMs—which rely on structured, encoded data present in the electronic health record—hospitals can electronically collect and transmit data on the quality of care that patients receive. The electronic data can then be analyzed to measure and improve quality and outcomes.

The Joint Commission, the United States’ leading accreditor of health care organizations, established the Pioneers in Quality™ program to assist and recognize hospitals that report eCQM data, as well as share best practices for all hospitals in gathering, analyzing and leveraging eCQM data for quality improvement.

“We are grateful to be recognized by The Joint Commission for our commitment to quality improvement,” said Prem Reddy, MD, FACC, FCCP, Prime Healthcare Chairman, President & CEO. “Our adoption of electronic clinical quality measures is crucial to continuously improving quality of care and outcomes for all patients.”

“Congratulations and thank you to our information technology and quality improvement teams for their important role in achieving this honor,” said Sunny Bhatia, MD, Chief Medical Officer for Prime Healthcare. “Innovation and performance analysis are critical to continuous improvement in quality care and outcomes for all our patients.”

Pioneers in Quality™ recognition is not an indicator or measure of data quality or quality of care, but an indicator of an organization’s commitment to adopting eCQMs toward quality improvement. It recognizes eCQM data reporting and other contributions that advance eCQM adoption in health care.

For more information about The Joint Commission and the Pioneers in Quality™ program, visit www.jointcommission.org.