Quality Measures in Healthcare
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CU Orthopedics Quality Program
Best Orthopedic group in Denver. Best Orthopedic group in Colorado. And one of the top 20 orthopedic surgery programs in the country. Creating quality care in health care through outcome measures.
Our doctors help make UCHealth and Children's Hospital Colorado the best in the region, so we're honored to be nationally ranked by U.S. News and World Report. It's our mission to lead the community in high-quality, innovative orthopedic care. And as part of an academic medical institution, we're also leading the field with cutting-edge musculoskeletal research and training the next generation of orthopedic surgeons.
Our Mission
- To provide the highest quality, professional, and ethical care to all patients through the integration of comprehensive education and exceptional musculoskeletal research.
Our Vision
- To lead the community in the highest quality of Orthopedic care for all patients
- To educate all individuals to the highest standards of patient care, professionalism, and ethics
- To create centers of excellence within Orthopedic care, recognized on a national level
Our Values
- Provide quality and innovative care to all patients
- Promote integrity and respect all interactions
- Educate professional, ethical, and competent clinicians and scientists
- Holistic governance in a transparent and financially responsible fashion
- Create a diverse environment that fosters excellence and rewarding opportunities
- Create collaborative and integrative units that promote education, research, clinical care, and community service
Kenneth Hunt, MD
Associate Professor and Chief- Foot and Ankle Surgery
Vice Chair-Quality, Patient Safety and Outcomes
Dr. Ken Hunt is the Director of the UCHealth Foot and Ankle Center, Associate Professor, and Vice-Chair of Quality, Patient Safety, and Outcomes for the University of Colorado Department of Orthopedics. His philosophy of care is the commitment to his patients and their families to deliver care that is supported by the highest order of compassion, innovation, science, and technology. He enjoys spending time with his family, skiing, hiking, and traveling.
Our Team
Venkatesh
Prasad Gaallee, MS
Quality Program Manager
Venkatesh graduated from the University of Colorado Denver with a Master’s degree in Information Systems. He is the Quality Program Manager overseeing the quality program in the Department of Orthopedics. Venkatesh’s goal is to improve the quality program in the department by bettering customer experience, automating data analytics, and raising compliance. Away from work, he is a sports enthusiast. He loves to watch and play cricket, soccer, volleyball, and FIFA in his PS5.
Samantha
Bereny, BA
Quality Program Assistant
Sam Bereny graduated from Lewis & Clark College with a BA in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. In addition to working with the Hand/Wrist Research Team, Sam also supports the patient-reported outcomes initiative at the University of Colorado’s Department of Orthopedics – Steadman Hawkins Clinic.
Brinnlie
Harward, BS
Quality Program Assistant
Brinnlie graduated from Utah State University with a Bachelor of Science in Biology. She supports the University of Colorado’s Department of Orthopedics quality program at multiple locations. In her free time, she enjoys skiing, surfing, attending
sporting events, and traveling.
The Department of Orthopedics would like to highlight the following resources to help both clinicians and individuals interested in orthopedic quality improvement.
Outcomes
The Department of Orthopedics recently contracted with Chicago-based PatientIQ, a leader in secure delivery and measurement of patient-reported outcomes, to initiate the collection and analysis of outcomes from patients receiving care from five of our adult clinical sub-specialties.
U-COSMOS (University of Colorado Surgical Monitoring and Outcomes System) is a consortium of outcomes-focused providers from all sub-specialties within the Department of Orthopedics. Check here periodically for recent U-COSMOS publications.
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Partnering with PatientIQ to Improve Quality Care Across All Orthopedic Specialties
“As our patient population continues to grow, we must ensure that we maintain our standard of excellence throughout the practice,” said Kenneth Hunt, MD, vice president of quality, patient safety, and outcomes in orthopedics.
What are quality measures in healthcare?
According to CMS.gov, "Quality measures are tools that help us measure or quantify healthcare processes, outcomes, patient perceptions, and organizational structure and/or systems that are associated with the ability to provide high-quality health care and/or that relate to one or more quality goals for health care. These goals include effective, safe, efficient, patient-centered, equitable, and timely care."
Through leveraging the data collected through PatientIQ we can:
- Ensure patient safety
- Guide our patients in their decision-making on their treatment
- Help our patients make more informed choices about the health care they receive
- Patients see how they are improving after the treatment is implemented
- Discover areas where interventions might improve care
- Analyze trends
- Benchmark patient populations
- Generate insights into how to best treat patients over time
- Provide objective data to encourage change in policy discussions on healthcare programs