The role of quality management at Ridgecrest Regional Hospital is to support the healthcare team as they continue to strive to improve their processes of healthcare delivery. Our quality team monitors and evaluates trends within the hospital and focuses on the needs of our patients, and improving our patients’ experiences. Our team also reviews current systems and processes in order to stay compliant with established standards and guiding principles.
Our quality management department is headed by registered nurse Brenda Diel, MS, RN, and includes representatives from Safety, Compliance, Risk Management, Patient Advocacy, and Infection Prevention.
Medicare & Medicaid Compliant
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) implemented quality initiatives such as quality measures, to assure quality health care for Medicare Beneficiaries through accountability and public disclosure. Quality measures are tools that help us measure or quantify healthcare processes, outcomes, patient perceptions, and organizational systems that are associated with the ability to provide high-quality health care and that relate to one or more quality goals for health care.
These goals include creating care that is:
- Effective
- Safe
- Efficient
- Patient-centered
- Equitable
- Timely
RRH is focusing on Labor and Delivery measures and Patient Satisfaction.
Maternal Data Center (CMQCC)
The Maternal Data Center (CMQCC) is an online tool that generates rapid-cycle performance metrics on maternity care services for hospital participants. This tool supports quality improvement activities and service-line management. RRH participates in CMQCC in efforts to improve maternal health care services.
CMQCC has developed evidence-based quality improvement toolkits for the leading causes of preventable death and complications for mothers and infants, including toolkits on: Cardiovascular Disease, Early Elective Delivery, Hemorrhage (1st and 2nd editions), Maternal Venous Thromboembolism, Preeclampsia, and Supporting Vaginal Birth and Reducing Primary Cesareans.
CMQCC compares our hospital data to other California hospitals that participate in CMQCC. Below is a graph that shows RRH has fewer first time moms having c-sections compared to other CA CMQCC members which is a positive thing. The California Maternal Quality Care Collaborative has long been committed to supporting vaginal birth and reducing first birth cesareans. Although cesarean births can be lifesaving and medically needed, the rapid rise and the extreme hospital variation suggests that “grey-zone” indications seem to be driving much of these trends. Importantly, recent data indicates that term newborn outcomes have not improved in the last 20 years. The rise in cesarean rates has resulted in significant health (e.g. placenta acreta and previa, uterine rupture, hemorrhage and adhesions), social and economic costs for American women.
