To be active partners in their care, potential patients need information to make wise health care decisions. Available information must be current and written in a language that is understandable to the average person.
To assist in this process, The Nebraska Medical Center will soon rollout a public Web site that will allow the organization to elaborate on our data that may be posted elsewhere and provide more current updates, discuss risk adjustment and provide more indicators that will give potential patients a better idea of the quality of care provided at The Nebraska Medical Center.
Before the data is made available to the public, it will first be rolled out internally on the hospital’s intranet beginning later in May. An e-mail will soon be sent that provides a link to the pages. Employees are asked to view the site and provide feedback on the public reporting information via an electronic feedback tool. After internal review, the information will be available at www.nebraskamed.com beginning July 9. The site will be updated quarterly with the most current information available.
“The Nebraska Medical Center believes in educating potential patients on choosing quality healthcare,” says Stephanie Gould, public reporting project manager. “We want the public to know about the services and outcomes we provide.”
Gould said potential patients should study the following information when selecting a healthcare provider:
- Clinical performance
- Factors that support clinical performance
- Accreditations
- Credentials
- Experience
- Range of service
- Steps taken to improve clinical performance
- Customer ratings
- Ratings by state, consumer or external groups
The Nebraska Medical Center will provide information to the public on our performance in the above areas on the public reporting pages. Clinical performance and outcomes will compare The Nebraska Medical Center to Joint Commission’s national indicators. We will also show our progress toward meeting the National Patient Safety Goals. Initially, our indicators will include volume and outcomes from our specialty and high volume service lines.
The quality indicator web pages will highlight the unique features that help us provide the highest quality of care. They will include our quality improvement projects and emphasize our certifications and research projects. Patient, physician and employee satisfaction survey results will also be published.
High clinical quality and quality customer service are priorities of excellence. Providing quality indicator information to our potential patients is part of the organization’s purpose to deliver “Serious Medicine. Extraordinary Care.”
“We believe quality is a strategic separator for The Nebraska Medical Center,” says Steve Smith, M.D., chief medical officer. “By displaying our data, we can help tell a much more accurate story to the public than what is currently posted on various other public Web site. The more transparent we are, the more we will be recognized for our good work.”