The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) is undertaking a new initiative called the AHRQ Quality Indicators Learning Institute to provide a forum for discussing and facilitating the use of the AHRQ Quality Indicators in statewide and regional programs that report hospital quality measures to the public.
Who should participate: Organizations interested in developing public reporting programs and using the Quality Indicators to assess hospital quality.
What will be offered: A year-long series of national Web conferences, in-person meetings, and online discussions among leaders in the field of public reporting and quality measurement. The Institute will address issues related to measure selection, reporting formats, and the organizational infrastructure needed to conduct an effective public reporting program.
Introductory Web conference: On Wednesday, July 30, 2008, from 1:30 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. EASTERN TIME a Web conference will provide more information about the initiative and how to participate. To register for the Web conference, please go to http://www.ahrq.gov/qilearninginstitute/. If you cannot join the Web conference and want to learn more about the Institute, please e-mail QualityIndicatorsLearning@AHRQ.hhs.gov.
About the AHRQ Quality Indicators (QIs): The AHRQ QIs are health care quality measures that are widely used to highlight potential health care quality concerns, identify areas that need further study and investigation, and track changes over time. In recent years, they have been increasingly used as part of statewide hospital-level public reporting efforts. At least 12 statewide or regional public reporting programs currently use the AHRQ QIs to help consumers better assess hospital performance. In May 2008, the National Quality Forum (NQF) endorsed many of the AHRQ QIs for hospital-level public reporting. To learn more about the QIs, go to http://www.qualityindicators.ahrq.gov/.
Questions? Please e-mail QualityIndicatorsLearning@AHRQ.hhs.gov or contact Katherine Griffith at AcademyHealth (the contractor for the project) at (202) 292-6730.
