Tomah Health Quality Director Shelly Egstad knows how hard it has been for hospital staff to advance quality initiatives and standards over the past year.
“The resiliency of our frontline staff in advancing quality and safety is a testament to those who work at Tomah Health,” Egstad said. “Quality and patient safety can sometimes go by the wayside in stressful situations; however our staff continually battled throughout this pandemic to win the war.”
Egstad made the comment in light of the release of the Wisconsin Hospital Association (WHA) 2020 Quality Report June 9. The report underscores the high standard of care of the state’s hospitals even as they prepared for and responded to unprecedented challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Wisconsin hospitals and health systems have long been pioneers in quality measurement and reporting,” WHA President and CEO Eric Borgerding said. “We can all take comfort knowing that the hospitals operating in our communities here in Wisconsin are among the nation’s leaders when it comes to quality and patient safety standards.”
Included in WHA’s Quality Report is aggregate data for Wisconsin hospitals relative to quality programs and measures administered by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). Through its Value-Based Purchasing Program, Hospital-Acquired Conditions Reduction Program and Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program, CMS aims to improve the care provided by the nation’s hospitals and link Medicare payments to health care quality in the inpatient setting. Officials reported that in all three programs, Wisconsin hospitals improve year over year and routinely outperform other health care providers.
As COVID cases decline and hospital operations revert to somewhat normal, Egstad knows that quality and patient safety standards are an ongoing effort. “This has been and continues to be an ongoing process, and with continued feedback from our patients, we continue to look for ways to enhance quality and safety,” Egstad said.
The WHA report features stories highlighting how Wisconsin hospitals, including Tomah Health, worked with others to respond to COVID challenges.
To Read Tomah Health’s Story, CLICK HERE
To Read the Report, CLICK HERE