HEALTH AND BEAUTY CLOSE-UP-8 October 2008-Oregon Hospitals Earns Medicare Reporting Benchmark for Third Straight Year(C)2008 - CloseUpMedia - newsdesk@closeupmedia.com

Acumentra Health, Oregon's Medicare Quality Improvement Organization (QIO), announced that, for the third year in a row,

According to the group, only 20 other states had all of their hospitals qualify for full payment.

The group also noted Oregon's 33 PPS hospitals-which include urban hospitals as well as 9 rural facilities-are required under Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 regulations to meet specific data reporting and validation criteria in order to receive full Medicare payment (called the Annual Payment Update, or APU). All 33 met the criteria for fiscal year 2009.

"We commend these Oregon hospitals on sustaining their strong performance over time," said Jon K. Mitchell, FACHE, president and CEO of Acumentra Health. "Their achievement demonstrates outstanding commitment to transparency and excellence in patient care."

For FY 2009, Medicare's criteria for full payment were to

- Collect and report data on 30 quality measures, covering care for heart attacks, heart failure, and pneumonia; surgical care improvement; 30-day mortality rates following heart attack, heart failure, and pneumonia hospitalizations; and patients' experience of care (measured by a satisfaction survey)- Pass a quarterly audit of sample medical records (a check that the medical records support the reported quality measure data) with an overall score of at least 80 percent for cases from the four quarters ending September 30, 2007- Agree to display the results of their quality measure data on Hospital Compare (www.hospitalcompare.hhs.gov) for public viewing

As Oregon's QIO, Acumentra Health assists hospitals in meeting the data submission and reporting criteria and serves as an information resource for the hospital reporting process. Acumentra Health also helps resolve issues related to reporting and validation, and handles appeals, such as cases in which the hospital believes the record includes the required information that the auditing agency was unable to locate.

Acumentra Health is a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the quality and effectiveness of health care.

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