(June 2011) This data brief provides findings from NAPH’s readmissions survey, including strategies for reducing readmissions and populations at high risk for readmissions in NAPH member hospitals.

(May 2011) This data brief provides information on how NAPH members as a group perform on publicly-reported measures of care for patients with heart failure and heart attack.

(April 2011) NAPH members have achieved extraordinary results navigating the most vulnerable patient populations through overwhelmed EDs.

(January 2011) Through a generous grant from the Kaiser Permenente Community Benefit Fund, NAPH partnered with the National Patient Safety Foundation (NPSF) to offer The Patient Safety Initiative at America's Public Hospitals. This brief summarizes projects and activities that NAPH members implemented as part of this program and how they were able to achieve various patient safety goals.

(June 2010) NAPH continuously tracks member performance on publicly reported quality measures. This Research Brief looks at the latest data release on CMS's Hospital Compare website and analyzes longitudinal trends between the averaged NAPH member scores and the averaged U.S. hospital scores. It concludes that NAPH members continue to outperform non-members on most core measures.

(October 2008) Patient satisfaction is an increasingly critical piece of how hospitals and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) measure quality of care. Indeed, CMS has recently begun publicly reporting results of a patient satisfaction survey, called the “Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems” (or “HCAHPS”). This Research Brief explores factors leading to HCAHPS development and its fiscal implications, as well as performance of NAPH member hospitals in the initial data reporting periods.

(June 2007) As part of its ongoing commitment to quality improvement, NAPH has been analyzing member-versus-national hospital performance on the 21 key measures that the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is using in its Medicare "pay-for-reporting" effort. These measures cover four clinical conditions: heart attack, heart failure, pneumonia, and surgical care infection prevention. NAPH’s analysis concludes that its members score well across the board, particularly on CMS's cardiovascular measures.

(October 2006) This Research Brief summarizes the hospital quality measurement development process. It also reviews recommended measures by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and describes current NAPH activities around quality improvement.