 In 1998, an American bubble burst when journalists reported a startling find: more than 98,000 needless deaths occur each year from avoidable mistakes in hospitals. These deaths are due to complications from the wrong medication, injuries to patients from falls or neglect, missed diagnoses and poorly coordinated care. That clarion call was the Institute of Medicine’s report, To Err is Human: Building a Safer Health System. Why does the United States lack quality in health care? Is it because doctors and hospitals do not wish to pursue safe and effective care? No. Is it because health plans, employers and consumers refuse to ask or pay for excellent care? No. The problem reflects a systemic challenge: The goal of achieving safe and effective care at an excellent level is not being met, although all stakeholders acknowledge the need. Pay for Quality: A Strategic Perspective, a new paper by the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions part of Deloitte LLP, examines the potential for quality in a narrow context: What if the care provided in a community was the safest and most effective care achievable? What if errors were reduced to nil and adherence to evidence-based guidelines took inappropriate variation completely out of the system?
Pay for Quality: A Strategic Perspective offers one viewpoint on how safe and effective care is achievable if key stakeholders approach the process openly and with trust. With the assistance of HealthGrades, the paper examines health care quality in the community of Topeka, Kansas – where the gap between good and excellent care is relatively narrow but nonetheless significant in terms of lives lost and dollars spent – to determine how to close that gap. To read the report, download Pay for Quality: A Strategic Perspective below. For more information about this topic, please visit the Quest for Quality Health Care resources page. Related Content:
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