Parkview Medical Center: Underscoring the Importance of Communication in Pneumonia Care

Parkview Medical Center is one of the top-performing hospitals in the country in the pneumonia process-of-care measures, or "core," measures. The core measures, developed by the Hospital Quality Alliance, relate to achievement of recommended treatment in four clinical areas: heart attack, heart failure, pneumonia, and surgical care. In addition to performing strongly in the pneumonia care core measures, Parkview has achieved 99 percent compliance in the heart failure core measures. Hospital leaders credit the organization's strong performance in pneumonia care to the regular communication and reinforcement provided by quality improvement staff. Concurrent review in particular is relied on as an opportunity to provide real-time education and reminders to providers at the point of care. Those interviewed also emphasize that the hospital leaders are willing to try anything in the name of improving patient care.