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Home health care: percentage of patients with improvement in status of surgical wounds.
Outcome
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Does not apply to this measure
This measure is used to assess the percentage of home health care patients with improvement in the status of their most problematic (observable) surgical wound compared to a prior assessment.
This measure identifies the degree of healing visible in the most problematic surgical wound. The "most problematic" wound is the one that may be complicated by the presence of infection, location of wound, large size, difficult management or drainage, or slow healing.
Wound healing is a significant factor affecting the patient's ability to resume normal life activities after surgery. Surgical wound healing can be facilitated with appropriate monitoring and intervention, and is an important marker of good care.
This is one of 41 OASIS-based measures for which Medicare-certified home health agencies receive performance reports from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). The reports cover Medicare and Medicaid adult non-maternity patients and compare each agency's rates to national reference rates and to the agency's own rates in the previous year. The reports provide home health agencies with information they can use to improve quality of care by targeting care practices that influence specific patient functioning and health status, as part of a comprehensive quality improvement approach.
Home health care; surgical wounds
All patients with a completed home health episode of care (except those defined in the denominator exclusion) who were eligible to improve in the status of their most problematic (observable) surgical wound (i.e., were not at the optimal level of health status according to the "Status of Most Problematic (Observable) Surgical Wound" OASIS* item) (see the related "Denominator Inclusions/Exclusions" field in the Complete Summary)
*Outcome and Assessment Information Set
Patients from the denominator with improvement in the status of their most problematic (observable) surgical wound compared to a prior assessment (see the related "Numerator Inclusions/Exclusions" field in the Complete Summary)
Special or unique data
Improvement in status of surgical wounds.
Outcome and Assessment Information Set (OASIS)
Outcome-Based Quality Improvement (OBQI) Measures
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
Center for Health Services Research, University of Colorado, under contract to Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
New York State Department of Health
Peter W. Shaughnessy, PhD; Kathryn S. Crisler, MS, RN; Robert E. Schlenker, PhD; David F. Hittle, PhD; Martha C. Powell, PhD; Angela Arnold Richard, MS, RN; Andrew M. Kramer, MD; Eugene J. Nuccio, PhD; and other staff of the Center for Health Services Research, University of Colorado
None apply
National Quality Forum
Home Health Compare
Measure was not adapted from another source.
1998 Oct
2002 Feb
This is the current release of the measure.
The individual measure, "Improvement in Status of Surgical Wounds," is published in "OASIS and Outcome-Based Quality Improvement in Home Health Care: Research and Demonstration Findings, Policy Implications, and Considerations for Future Change. Volumes 1-4."
The following are available:
This NQMC summary was completed by ECRI on March 21, 2005. The information was verified by the measure developer on June 20, 2005.
No copyright restrictions apply.
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Date Modified: 11/16/2009
