We've created that: Consumer Health Quality Council's Accomplishments in 2009

As the council president, I had the pleasure of making a presentation about the progress made in 2009 by our Consumer Health Quality Council, at a meeting of the consumer council and our advisory council on Wednesday, organized by Health Care for All:

We've made a lot of progress this year, thanks to the work by you and our other council members. As we start 2010, the signs point to continued progress. To name just three examples both of how well we’ve done in 2009 and how we’re set up to succeed in 2010:

You told me, this time last year, that our biggest priority was the implementation of Chapter 305. We've had notable success there. For example, consider the two work groups that I know the best from my own work: Rapid Response Teams and Patient/Family Advisory Councils. For the first time in Massachusetts, and indeed anywhere in the U.S. to the best of our knowledge, there is an early tabulation of the statewide use of hospitals' rapid response methods to promptly rescue deteriorating patients. We've created that! In doing so, we discovered the first family-initiated rapid responses. We have an emerging strategy of encouraging hospitals through recognizing the ones who've reported active use of the often life-saving rapid responses.

Second, our PFAC (Patient/Family Advisory Council) work group has also produced a first-of-its-kind useful public statewide accounting – of hospitals' plans for PFACs, and a listing of the first changes in extended visiting hours, maps of cardiac care milestones for an inpatient, washer/dryers for patients' parents, to name only three innovative changes. A strategy of publicly commending these innovative hospitals can spread these changes through the state in 2010 – with your continued help. Third, we've benefited from our new members, with more new skilled people coming on board soon. Our new members have been particularly active through our work groups. Kim Slack and others will likely join us in 2010, adding to our capacity.

Read another story about the work of our Consumer Health Quality Council in 2009.