Demonstrating High Reliability on Accountability Measures at The Johns Hopkins Hospital

Background: Patients continue to suffer preventable harm from the omission of evidence-based therapies. To remedy this, The Joint Commission developed core measures for therapies with strong evidence and, through the Top Performer on Key Quality Measures (R) program, recognize hospitals that deliver those therapies to 95% of patients. The Johns Hopkins Medicine board of trustees committed to high reliability and to providing >= 96% of patients with the recommended therapies. Methods: The Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety and Quality coordinated the core measures initiative, which targeted nine process measures for the 96% performance goal: eight Joint Commission accountability measures and one Delmarva Foundation core measure. A conceptual model for this initiative included communicating goals, building capacity with Lean Sigma methods, transparently reporting performance and establishing an accountability plan, and developing a sustainability plan. Clinicians and quality improvement staff formed one team for each targeted process measure, and Armstrong Institute staff supported the teams' work. The primary performance measure was the percentage of patients who received the recommended process of care, as defined by the specifications for each of The Joint Commission's accountability measures. Results: The >= 96% performance goal was achieved for 82% of the measures in 2011 and 95% of the measures in 2012. Conclusions: With support from leadership and a conceptual model to communicate goals, use robust improvement methods, and ensure accountability, The Johns Hopkins Hospital achieved high reliability for The Joint Commission accountability measures.