Health Care Clinicians Use Data to Improve Patient Care

PRINCETON, N.J., Dec. 12, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) released a package of materials—including a brief, videos, case studies, and more—demonstrating how health care clinicians are using publicly reported performance measurement data to improve patient care.

"You can't improve what you don't measure," said Anne Weiss, team director and senior program officer at RWJF. "Having transparent and reliable data on how well practices perform is a critical element in improving the health care system."

This RWJF package highlights how physician practices across the country are using performance data to compare how they stack up to their peers, motivating them to improve. Regional health improvement collaboratives are also using data to identify top performers and enable providers to share best practices.    

"Improvement would not be possible without public transparency of performance measurement. It has been the critical catalyst for so much progress around improvement in our community," said Barbara B. Tobias, MD, the medical director at the Health Collaborative in the greater Cincinnati area, whose work is highlighted in the package.

The materials also include a resource guide and interview with a local health care provider that demonstrates how performance data can drive quality improvement. The resources are part of the Aligning Forces for Quality "Quality Field Notes" series highlighting lessons learned by regional alliances of clinicians, patients, and payers to transform their local health care and provide models for national reform.

To learn more about the Quality Field Notes series, visit rwjf.org/goto/putdata2work.

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation focuses on the pressing health and health care issues facing our country. As the nation's largest philanthropy devoted exclusively to health and health care, the Foundation works with a diverse group of organizations and individuals to identify solutions and achieve comprehensive, measurable, and timely change. For 40 years the Foundation has brought experience, commitment, and a rigorous, balanced approach to the problems that affect the health and health care of those it serves. When it comes to helping Americans lead healthier lives and get the care they need, the Foundation expects to make a difference in your lifetime. Follow the Foundation on Twitter (www.rwjf.org/twitter) or Facebook (www.rwjf.org/facebook).

Related Links
Read how measuring and reporting on health care spurs quality improvement 
Learn more about RWJF's Quality Field Notes series

Video with caption: "In Aligning Forces for Quality communities, publicly reported measures of health care quality are driving improvement." Video available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5E7558njgKs  

Video with caption: "Primary care practices in Cincinnati, including Deerfield Family Medicine, are using performance measurement data to improve diabetes care and outcomes. The data are collected and reported by the Health Collaborative of Greater Cincinnati, an Aligning Forces for Quality alliance." Video available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vm7F1ZVmDYQ  

Image with caption: "The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation focuses on the pressing health and health care issues facing our country." Image available at: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20131212/MM32598

SOURCE Robert Wood Johnson Foundation