Compass Collaborators

Background

Iowa Healthcare Collaborative (IHC) has been privileged to lead Compass hospital improvement programs for many years. It is IHC’s mission to facilitate exception healthcare quality, safety and value in Iowa and the nation. CMS recently announced Hospital Quality Improvement Contractor (HQIC) its next large-scale hospital quality improvement project, formerly the Hospital Engagement Network (HEN) and Hospital Improvement and Innovation Network (HIIN). Although not all Iowa hospitals are eligible to participate, IHC is deeply committed to ensuring all hospitals, regardless of eligibility, have access to resources they need to support their continued quality and safety efforts. That is why IHC is launching the Compass Hospital Collaborator program specifically for hospitals who are not eligible for HQIC. As a collaborator you can select free services that match your needs including:

  • IHC Compass Portal for reporting and on-demand quality reports
  • Focus area specific reports (e.g., Readmissions) using your administrative claims data
  • Compass newsletters and information
  • iCompass
  • iCompass Academy
  • Education and training opportunities
  • Evidence-based tools and resources
  • Access to quality and performance projects and initiatives 

Core Topics

  • Adverse Drug Events (opioid safety, anticoagulation safety and glycemic management)
  • Antimicrobial Stewardship
  • Catheter-Associated Urinary Tract Infections
  • Central Line-Associated Bloodstream Infections
  • Clostridioides difficile
  • Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus
  • Pressure Ulcers
  • Readmissions
  • Sepsis and Septic Shock

Additional Areas of Focus

  • Carbapenem-Resistant Enterobacterales
  • Falls
  • High Reliability Organizations
  • Obstetrical Adverse Events
  • Staff On-boarding and Retention
  • Surgical Site Infections
  • Venous Thromboembolism
  • Ventilator-Associated Events
  • Workplace Violence

CROSS-CUTTING PRIORITIES

  • Health Equity
  • Rural Emergency Hospitals
  • Patient and Family Engagement
  • Telehealth

Guiding Themes

Patient Centered - Compass will conduct network activities in a manner that is respectful of, and responsive to, patient preferences, needs and values

High Reliability and Culture of Safety - Compass will provide practical and effective tools to promote high reliability practices that produce consistent excellence in quality and safety across the healthcare continuum

Strategic Partnerships and Collaboration - Compass will seek and lead partnerships that draw on various strengths to enable aligned and efficient synergies that maximize the value to hospitals

Partnering Beyond the Quality Team - Compass will engage hospital leadership, physicians, patients and families, and multidisciplinary team members to maximize benefit to both the hospital and the patients they serve

Eligibility

CMS has determined that only acute care hospitals who meet one or more of the following criteria are eligible to participate in the HQIC program:

  • Rural
  • Critical access
  • Serve vulnerable population
  • Classified as consistently having a 2-star rating or lower (FY 2017- FY2020) 

Questions?

Connect with Iowa Healthcare Collaborative's director of hospital quality initiatives, Charisse Coulombe at coulombec@ihconline.org (e-mail).