BRENTWOOD, Tenn., Aug. 25, 2020 — Compassus, a nationwide network of community-based home health, infusion therapy, palliative and hospice care programs, is one of four health care organizations recognized by the National Quality Forum’s (NQF) Next Generation Innovator Program for its innovative approach to improving quality of care.
Care Delivery, The Compassus Way™ was honored in the Disruptive Approaches to HealthCare category for its success creating a standardized, reproducible model of care with measurable impacts on serious illness at the end of life. The NQF program aims to spotlight initiatives that improve the safety, quality and value of our nation’s health care.
Care Delivery, The Compassus Way is a person-centered, outcomes-focused program that draws upon best practices to elevate care in seven key areas including pain and symptom management, safety and autonomy, and quality of life. Implemented across Compassus’ 159-location hospice community in 29 states, the model closely aligns with the objectives outlined by the NQF in The Care We Need: Driving Better Health Outcomes for People and Communities, a roadmap to normalizing high-quality care. Since its implementation in 2019, Care Delivery, The Compassus Way has produced measurable improvements in the Medicare Hospice Quality Reporting Program and significant increases in the Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS) survey.
“We have long believed that more can be done to measurably improve care for those with serious illness or facing the end of life,” said Compassus Chief Medical Officer Kurt Merkelz, MD. “Care Delivery, The Compassus Way represents an opportunity to move beyond existing measures that simply track whether a care practice takes place and adopt systems and processes that truly improve quality of life in a way that is both measurable and meaningful. We are deeply honored this effort has been recognized.”
To further benchmark the model’s effectiveness, Compassus proactively developed new performance metrics in pain intervention response, medication reconciliation, patient safety, and quality of life. These measures supplement the company’s ongoing efforts to measure the effectiveness of serious illness and end-of-life care. Since 2011, Compassus has collected, measured and reported on a specific set of quality data that has allowed the company to set and maintain credible, legitimate hospice quality standards that are outcome-based and patient-centered.
