February 5, 2008

CMS Releases List of Hospitals Targeted for SCIP Improvement

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) this morning released a list of approximately 1,000 hospitals "targeted for improvement for Surgical Care Improvement Program (SCIP)," including several in Illinois. Other than indicating the list is based on measures for SCIP Infection-1 (antibiotic administered prior to surgery) and SCIP Infection-3 (antibiotic discontinued within 24 hours after surgery) reported through March 2007, CMS has not yet disclosed the methodology it used for generating the list.

CMS posted the list in conjunction with its release of the 9^th Statement of Work (SOW) for Medicare’s 53 Quality Improvement Organizations. CMS’s press release (click here) states that "under the 9^th SOW, QIOs will concentrate their efforts on facilities with the greatest opportunity for improvement in each individual measure. CMS has identified these hospitals and nursing homes, and has published this list on its web site as part of the 9^th SOW proposal solicitation process."

It’s possible you may receive calls from the news media about the release of this list. Review your hospital’s data on these two SCIP measures and be prepared to talk about the progress your hospital is making on these measures. Here are suggested talking points:

In addition, IHA has two quality improvement articles on the administration and discontinuation of antibiotics for surgical care on its web site at (click here) and (click here).

National List: [Illinois] Hospitals Targeted for Improvement for Surgical Care Improvement Program Based on Surgical Care Improvement Program (SCIP) Quality Measures "SCIP Infection-1" and "SCIP-Infection 3." "SCIP-Infection 1" measures "prophylactic antibiotic received within 1 hour prior to surgical incision." "SCIP-Infection 3" measures "prophylactic antibiotic discontinued within 24 hours after surgery time ends." NOTE: For more information about CMS' quality measures for hospitals, please visit the Hospital Compare tool at http://www.hospitalcompare.hhs.gov.

Staff Contact: Pat Merryweather