Compass Hospital Quality Improvement Contract (HQIC)

The Iowa Healthcare Collaborative (IHC) and partner organizations, collectively known as the Compass Network, are proud to have partnered with over 270 rural and critical access hospitals, the South Dakota Association of Healthcare Organizations, Kansas Healthcare Collaborative and Mississippi Hospital Association. The goals of the program were to improve behavioral health outcomes, decrease opioid misuse, improve patient safety, reduce harm, improve the quality of care transitions and reduce readmissions.

This program was the fourth CMS led hospital quality improvement program since 2012. IHC and its partner organizations led hospitals through the CMS Hospital Engagement Network (HEN 1.0 and 2.0), and the CMS Hospital Improvement and Innovation Network (HIIN), supporting hospital efforts to increase patient safety and improve quality of care. With progressive engagement and increasing momentum the Compass HQIC network has achieved extraordinary results in all four programs. These results are reflected in the 2020 Hospital Impact Report (PDF) and the 2024 Hospital Impact Report (PDF).

Some key highlights from our work nationally include:

  • Improved patient safety through a 12.35% relative improvement in all-cause harm and a 29.44% relative improvement in opioid adverse drug events. 
  • Improving readmission rates to hospitals by a relative improvement of 7.77%.
  • Adverse drug events from anticoagulation and hypoglycemia were reduced by 20%

Hospitals that have participated in the Compass HQIC network continue to have access to materials and recorded education:

  • Compass Portal for reporting and on-demand quality reports 
  • Focus area specific reports (e.g., Readmissions)
  • iCompass
  • iCompass Academy
  • Recorded education and training 
  • 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 - Conduct network activities in a manner that is respectful of, and responsive to, patient preferences, needs and values.

High Reliability and Culture of Safety - 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 - Seek out and lead partnerships that draw on various strengths to enable aligned and efficient synergies that maximize value to hospitals.

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

Compass HQIC Network Map

  

Questions?

Contact your state's program lead with any questions.

 

Iowa Healthcare Collaborative Charisse Coulombe, Director of Quality Initiatives coulombec@ihconline.org
South Dakota Association of Healthcare Organizations Becky Heisinger, Director of Quality Integration Becky.Heisinger@sdaho.org
Kansas Healthcare Collaborative

Mandy Johnson, Program Director of Quality Initiatives

mjohnson@khconline.org
Mississippi Hospital Association -Foundation LaNelle Weems, Director, MS Center for Quality and Workforce lweems@mhanet.org