A federal quality official told a Senate panel that shortcomings such as complexities of the healthcare system mean that maintaining healthcare quality "can be perceived as a significant challenge," according to a report by AHA News Now.
While "health care professionals desperately want to provide the highest quality," they face "the complexity of healthcare, deficiencies of the system in which they practice, needed improvements in teamwork and communication and impaired information flow," said Carolyn Clancy, MD, director of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
The hearing of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee focused on the HHS' National Quality Strategy and its Partnership for Patients, a collaboration with hospitals and providers to reduce hospital-acquired conditions and preventable hospital readmissions. Participants aim to reduce hospital-acquired conditions by 40 percent and preventable readmissions by 20 percent by 2014, saving up to $35 billion.
Read the AHA News Now report on quality.
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