Hospitals

CCME has worked with hospitals across the Carolinas for more than a decade to raise the bar on quality care for patients. A few of the key areas we focus on through our contract with Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) are:

• Quality data reporting and validation
• Reviews for Medicare appeals of provider notices
• Improvement of processes and systems related to key measure of patient care
• Coordination of patient care with external providers

Over the next three years, CCME will continue striving to improve quality measures and implement processes to ensure that patients receive better care. Our patient safety program focuses on:

• Surgical Care
• Health Care-Associated Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA)
• Heart Failure
• Pressure Ulcers

CCME is providing in-depth assistance to a group of local hospitals participating in our current Medicare-sponsored patient safety program. CCME uses four key strategies to work with these hospitals:

• Measure and report clinical performance – With standardized quality measures that are regularly reported publicly, health care consumers are able to recognize those hospitals that achieve excellence. CCME assists hospitals as they publicly report these efforts.
• Adopt information technology – CCME works with hospitals to improve care through the adoption of information technology in the form of computerized physician order entry systems, bar coding for medicines, and electronic health records.
• Redesign care processes – Many times, improving care in hospitals requires that care systems be redesigned. CCME works with hospitals to incorporate measurement and reporting systems to continually assess patient needs and expectations.
• Transform organizational culture – CCME works with facilities to develop a hospital culture that strives for high-quality care by involving support from leadership. Acceptance by staff and a shared commitment to common goals and visions are crucial to achieving quality results; CCME is there to guide them.

While CCME is currently working with a select group of North and South Carolina hospitals for this project, we invite any interested provider or organization to use the materials and links posted in the Hospital Resources section. For more information on the other CCME hospital programs and services we offer, please visit our corporate website at www.thecarolinascenter.org.