Value, 2012

Rhode Island Policymakers Link to AHRQ's State Snapshots on Quality Reporting Web Site

August 2012

As part of a legislatively-mandated public reporting program that publishes health care data to inform consumer decisionmaking, the Rhode Island Department of Health's Web site links to AHRQ's State Snapshots. The Department of Health's public reporting Web site provides clinical quality measures and patient satisfaction rates for hospitals, nursing homes, and home health agencies.

The State-level information used to create the Snapshots is based on data collected for AHRQ's "National Healthcare Quality Report." By linking to the State Snapshots, the Department of Health shares data with Rhode Island residents in a consumer-friendly way. State Snapshots is an interactive Web-based tool that shows whether a State has improved or worsened on specific health care quality measures.

For each State and the District of Columbia, the tool features an individual performance summary of more than 150 measures, such as preventing pressure ulcers, screening for diabetes-related foot problems, and giving recommended care to pneumonia patients. It also compares each State with others in the same region and with the Nation.

Rhode Island consistently ranks among the strongest performing States based on the State Snapshots' health care measurements.

Rosa Baier, MPH, Senior Scientist at Healthcentric Advisors and project director for the Rhode Island Department of Health's Healthcare Quality Reporting Program, says, "The State Snapshots provides an aggregate view of Rhode Island's health care system, giving us a comprehensive view of how our State is performing. It also enables us to identify areas for improvement and to benchmark our performance against other States."

Health leaders, insurers, providers, and researchers typically use the State Snapshots data to examine the extent of health care quality and disparities in their State and to take steps to address gaps in quality care and access to services. Easy-to-read data charts indicate current strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities for improvement for each State.

According to Baier, Rhode Island's Healthcare Quality Reporting Program seeks to align reporting efforts with national initiatives, such as State Snapshots, to ensure that consumers receive consistent messaging and to minimize the need to collect primary data. The State Snapshots performance summary is particularly useful to Baier, since the composite scores aggregate data from multiple health care settings, data collection instruments, and Federal agencies.

Baier adds, "We link to the State Snapshots because the information broadens our understanding of Rhode Island's overall health care system performance."

Impact Case Study Identifier: Multi-Center-12-01 (CDOM/CQuIPS)
AHRQ Products: State Snapshots
Topic(s): Policy, Quality, Consumer Health
Scope: Rhode Island

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Current as of August 2012

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Internet Citation:

Impact Case Studies and Knowledge Transfer Case Studies: Value, 2012. August 2012. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, MD. http://www.ahrq.gov/about/casestudies/value/val2012.htm

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