Glossary of Quality Terms

Accreditation

Accreditation is a process in which a health care organization undergoes an examination of its policies, procedures and performance by an external private sector organization ("accrediting body") to ensure that it is meeting predetermined criteria. It usually involves both on- and off-site surveys.

MMHS' Accrediation and Memberships

ACE (angiotensin converting enzyme) inhibitors and ARBs (angiotensin receptor blockers) are medicines used to treat patients with heart failure and are particularly beneficial in those patients with heart failure and decreased function of the left side of the heart. Early treatment with ACE inhibitors and ARBs in patients who have heart failure symptoms or decreased heart function after a heart attack can also reduce their risk of death from future heart attacks. ACE inhibitors and ARBs work by limiting the effects of a hormone that narrows blood vessels, and may thus lower blood pressure and reduce the work the heart has to perform. Since the ways in which these two kinds of drugs work are different, your doctor will decide which drug is most appropriate for you. If you have a heart attack and/or heart failure, you should get a prescription for ACE inhibitors or ARBs if you have decreased heart function before you leave the hospital.

Source: Hospital Compare, 2011. US Department of Health and Human Services, Retrieved September 2011.
http://www.hospitalcompare.hhs.gov/

American Hospital Association (AHA)

The AHA is the national organization that represents and serves all types of hospitals, health care networks, and their patients and communities. AHA takes part in national health policy development, legislative and regulatory debates, and legal matters. AHA provides education for health care leaders and is a source of information on health care issues and trends.

ARB stands for “Angiotensin receptor blocker”. An ARB is a medicine taken by mouth that reduces blood pressure and strengthens the heart beat. ARBs are useful in the treatment of cardiac diseases such as heart attack and heart failure.

Source: The Joint Commission Improving America’s Hospitals: The Joint Commission’s Annual Report on Quality and Safety 2011, Retrieved September 2011.
http://www.jointcommission.org/

Beta blockers are a type of medicine that is used to lower blood pressure, treat chest pain (angina) and heart failure, and to help prevent a heart attack. Beta blockers relieve the stress on your heart by slowing the heart rate and reducing the force with which your heart muscles contract to pump blood. They also help keep blood vessels from constricting in your heart, brain, and body. If you have a heart attack, you should get a prescription for a beta blocker before you leave the hospital.

Source: Hospital Compare, 2011. US Department of Health and Human Services, Retrieved September 2011.
http://www.hospitalcompare.hhs.gov/

Evidence-Based

Evidence-based medicine aims to apply the best available evidence gained from the scientific method to medical decision making. It seeks to assess the quality of evidence of the risks and benefits of treatments (including lack of treatment).

Fibrinolytic drugs are medicines that can help dissolve blood clots in blood vessels and improve blood flow to your heart.

Source: Hospital Compare, 2011. US Department of Health and Human Services, Retrieved September 2011.
http://www.hospitalcompare.hhs.gov/

Inpatient Hospital Services

Services provided to patients admitted to a hospital that includes bed and board, nursing services, diagnostic or therapeutic services, and medical or surgical services.

The Joint Commission

An organization that evaluates and accredits health care organizations and programs in the United States. The Joint Commission is an independent, not-for-profit organization. The Joint Commission looks at how well a hospital treats patients and how good a hospital's staff and equipment are. A hospital is accredited by The Joint Commission if it meets certain quality standards. These checks are done at least every 3 years. More than 180,000 hospitals in the U.S. are accredited by The Joint Commission.

Left Ventricular assessment is an in-depth evaluation of the heart muscle function that helps determine the correct treatment for the heart. LVS stands for “left ventricular systolic”. An LVS assessment evaluates how well the left ventricle- the hearts main pumping chamber. Left ventricular dysfunction results when the heart chamber is not pumping all the blood out before it refills for the next heartbeat. This results in high blood pressure within the heart and can produce heart failure.

Source: The Joint Commission Improving America’s Hospitals: The Joint Commission’s Annual Report on Quality and Safety 2011, Retrieved September 2011.
http://www.jointcommission.org/

Mortality

A fatal outcome or, in one word, death. A mortality rate is a death rate.

Perioperative

Period shortly before, during and shortly after an operation.

Pneumonia

An inflammation of the lungs caused by a viral or bacterial infection. This fills your lungs with mucus and lowers the oxygen level in your blood. Symptoms can include fever, fatigue, difficulty breathing, chills, a “wet” cough and chest pain.

Pneumonia (pneumococcal) Vaccination

Vaccine given to prevent pneumonia, estimated to protect against 80 percent of bacteria causing pneumonia.

Pressure Ulcer

A pressure ulcer (sometimes referred to as a bed sore) is an area of skin that breaks down when a patient stays in one position for too long without shifting their weight.

Quality

Quality health care is how well a doctor, hospital, health plan, or other provider of health care, keeps its members healthy or treats them when they are sick. Good quality health care means doing the right thing at the right time, in the right way, for the right person and getting the best possible results.

Risk-Adjusted

To calculate the hospital death rates and rates of readmission, Medicare uses a complex statistical procedure. The rates are "risk-adjusted," meaning that the calculations take into account how sick patients were when they went in for their initial hospital stay. When rates are risk-adjusted, it means that hospitals that usually take care of sicker patients won't have a worse rate just because their patients were sicker when they arrived at the hospital. When rates are risk-adjusted, it helps make comparisons fair and meaningful.

Severity-Adjusted Mortality

A calculated rate of mortality (death rate), based on the severity of a morbid (disease state, disability, or poor health due to any cause) condition. This data is used to determine appropriate reimbursement from Medicare.

Smoke cessation advice is education to assist anyone who has smoked cigarettes anytime in the past one year to quit smoking or continue not to smoke if they have recently quit.

Statin

Statin is a class of pharmaceutical agents that lower blood cholesterol. Specifically, the agents modify LDL- cholesterol blocking the action of a enzyme in the liver which is needed to synthesize cholesterol, thereby decreasing the level of cholesterol in the blood. Statins are also called HMG-COA reductase inhibitors.

Source: The Joint Commission Improving America’s Hospitals: The Joint Commission’s Annual Report on Quality and Safety 2011, Retrieved September 2011.
http://www.jointcommission.org/

Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia

Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) is a sub-type of hospital-acquired pneumonia (HAP) which occurs in people who are on mechanical ventilation through an endotracheal or tracheostomy tube for at least 48 hours.