Promote Transparency and Quality Improvement
Information about quality and cost of care is essential for informed consumer choice, and for service delivery accountability and improvement.
- Hospital reports containing information about quality, hospital infection rates and prevention measures, patient safety, nursing staffing levels, financial health, costs for services, and other hospital characteristics, are required by Vermont law.
- We have implemented a Patient Safety Surveillance and Improvement System to improve patient safety, eliminate adverse events, and support quality improvement efforts in hospitals.
- Working with the Governor, the Vermont Association of Hospitals and Health Systems (VAHHS) has adopted a uniform policy to not seek payment from patients or insurers for hospital care resultin in certain rare but serious adverse events as defined by the National Quality Forum, as of Fall 2008.
- We have made enhancements to Vermont's Advanced Directives process and registry.
- We are developing the new Vermont Healthcare Claims Uniform Reporting System (VHCURES), a multi-payer database that contains claims data from all private and public insurance plans to help the state better understand the effectiveness and efficiency of our health care system.
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