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Faculty Clinical Quality Goals Drive Improvement in University HealthSystem Consortium Outcome Measures

Mortality, length of stay (LOS), patient safety indicators (PSIs), and hospital-acquired conditions (HACs) are routinely reported by the University HealthSystem Consortium (UHC) to measure quality at academic health centers. We hypothesized that a clinical quality measurable goal assigned to individual faculty members would decrease UHC measures of mortality, LOS, PSIs, and HACs. For academic year (AY) 2010–2011, faculty members received a clinical quality goal related to mortality, LOS, PSIs, and HACs. The quality metric constituted 25 per cent of each faculty member's annual evaluation clinical score, which is tied to compensation. The outcomes were compared before and after goal assignment. Outcome data on 6212 patients from AY 2009–2010 were compared with 6094 patients from AY 2010–2011. The mortality index (0.89 vs 0.93; P = 0.73) was not markedly different. However, the LOS index decreased from 1.01 to 0.97 (P = 0.011), and department-wide PSIs decreased significantly from 285 to 162 (P = 0.011). Likewise, HACs decreased from 54 to 18 (P = 0.0013). Seven (17.9%) of 39 faculty had quality grades that were average or below. Quality goals assigned to individual faculty members are associated with decreased average LOS index, PSIs, and HACs. Focused, relevant quality assignments that are tied to compensation improve patient safety and outcomes.