Beyond Simple Ranking: Identifying and Empirically Testing Alternative Approaches for Recognizing Quality in Rural Hospitals

Funder:	Office of Rural Health Policy (ORHP)
Research center:	Upper Midwest Rural Health Research Center Phone: 612.624.8618
Lead researcher:	Ira Moscovice, PhD
Contact:	Ira Moscovice, PhD, 612.624.8618, mosco001@umn.edu
Project funded:	September 2006
Project completed:	December 2007
Topics:	Hospitals and clinics Quality

The purpose of this project is to:

• Identify "quality identification" and "quality scoring" methods for small, rural hospitals that are less susceptible to errors related to sampling variation than the simple ranking by composite score method used in the Hospital Quality Incentive Demonstration Project (HQIDP).
• Identify the pros and cons of these alternative methods and assess the likely acceptance by providers and CMS of their use in place of the HQIDP ranking by composite score method.

This follow-up study uses two years of data from the completed HQIDP along with data from the Hospital Compare initiative to identify and explore several alternative methods for assessing the relative quality of hospitals. In addition to the mathematical modeling, a structured telephone interview will be conducted with a sample of hospital administrators, CMS staff, and others to assess the advantages and disadvantages of the alternative strategies.

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