Quality of Care
Not all health care facilities and physicians are alike. Differences in quality matter most when you need medical care. The doctor and medical facility you choose will have a direct impact on your care - especially when you need treatment for a serious condition or disease.
Quality is measured in many different ways. While there is no universal agreement on which method should be used, the following criteria are often cited as quality indicators:
Physician Training
Board certification, or the international equivalent, means that doctors have completed specialized training that a specialty board requires. To earn board certification, physicians must have practiced for a specified period of time and then pass a difficult written and oral examination. Some physicians are also board eligible, meaning they have completed the necessary education and training, and are waiting a required period of time before taking their board exam.
Patient Satisfaction
Patient satisfaction scores often reflect the willingness of doctors and nurses to explain treatment and answer questions; how much time doctors spend with patients; and if the medical center is clean and the food is good. Patient satisfaction data can predict how satisfying your experience is likely to be at a particular hospital.
Other Quality of Care Sources
Several health care and government organizations provide information about health care quality. The information these organizations provide can help you make informed, accurate decisions about health care quality.
Please Note: Different agencies and websites use varying definitions, data sets, and periods of time when providing hospital quality information. Make sure you thoroughly understand the definitions and results provided by these different quality measurements.
Quality Reports
The Joint Commission and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) have developed a set of research-based quality indicators that are used by health care providers across the nation. They have established standardized measures of quality in selected patient populations including heart attack, pneumonia, congestive heart failure, and surgical care.
In an effort to provide patients with a well-rounded view of our hospital, OSF St. Francis provides the latest set of Quality Reports for review.
Hand Hygiene
Proper hand hygiene - specifically frequent hand-washing - is one of the most important things we can do to prevent the spread of germs. At OSF St. Francis, we routinely monitor and measure hand-washing efforts of our employees. For more information on proper hand hygiene, please visit the Center for Disease Control (CDC) Hand Hygiene website.
