Overview of the Vermont Health Care Quality Report 2008 (click for printable PDF)

This section offers summary remarks about each Chapter of the Quality Report. The overarching intent of the Report is to provide information for statewide health care policy formation and identify potential areas for quality improvement within the healthcare sector itself. 

Chapter 1: Healthcare utilization

Inpatient Care: For an overview of the trends in inpatient care in Vermont hospitals for 2002 through 2006 (click here).

Inpatient utilization by hospital service area: This analysis relates hospital discharge data with the Vermont Household Health Insurance Survey to answer questions like “How does the Health Status of a population influence Hospitalization?” For highlights of this analysis, (click here).

Chapter 2: Measuring Quality of Care

AHRQ Quality Indicators: The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) has developed a family of measures to identify apparent variations in the quality of inpatient or outpatient care.  These Quality Indicators (QIs) are organized into four modules: Prevention Quality Indicators (PQIs), Inpatient Quality Indicators (IQIs), Patient Safety Indicators (PSIs), and Pediatric Quality Indicators (PDIs).  These indicators are rigorous, standardized measures that make use of administrative hospital discharge data.  For highlights of these QIs, (click here).

NCQA HEDIS: Select standardized HEDIS quality of care performance measures establish the baseline for states to compare the quality of care received by their beneficiaries.  Accordingly, the information presented is useful for summarizing the quality of care received by specific subpopulations of the Global Commitment program and identifying focus areas for future quality improvement projects.  For highlights of this analysis using the Medicaid data, (click here).

Chapter 3: What is the face of Chronic Illness in Vermont?

Improving Diabetes care using the Vermont Health Record: The Vermont Health Record (VHR) is a chronic disease registry tool created for use by Vermont clinicians.  Developed in 2005, the tool can be used by primary care practices to help manage treatment plans for patients with diabetes, cardio-vascular disease, and hypertension.  For a summary of this analysis, (click here).

The VPQ Learning Community: The Learning Community is based on the Institute for Healthcare Improvement’s Breakthrough Series Collaborative model.  VPQ staff work with community leaders to provide a variety of training opportunities to the practice teams.  For highlights of recent Learning Community events, (click here).

Chapter 4: How prevalent is MRSA (Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus Aureus) in Vermont?

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is one of several different types of bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics.  A recent rise in the number of MRSA cases nationally and the accompanying media coverage has led to the demand for more information.  The following analyses were conducted to examine the incidence of MRSA in Vermont over a five-year period.  For highlights of this analysis, (click here).

Chapter 5: What do we know about end-of-life care in Vermont?

What is quality end-of-life care?  How do we know if the people of Vermont are receiving it?  What measures are available to assess it?  For a summary of statewide efforts to improve the quality of end-of-life care in Vermont, (click here).

Chapter 6: What do other reports say about quality of care in Vermont?

The Dartmouth Atlas is a project of the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice.  The Atlas reports on variations in how medical resources are distributed and used in the US.  The report specifically focuses on Medicare beneficiaries with chronic illness who were in the last 2 years of life.  For highlights of the 2008 Dartmouth Atlas, including some Vermont-specific findings, (click here).