Quality Initiatives and Reporting
At Avera, providing quality care is our top priority. Avera embraces the philosophy of a just culture that encourages the development of systems that support delivery of excellent care to each and every patient.
Avera continues to expand the quality and safety focus throughout the continuum of services, including our hospitals, primary and specialty care clinics, home care and long-term care.
Avera Quality Plan 2023-2025
Every two years, Avera’s Quality team develops a system-wide, cross continuum Quality Plan. The Quality Plan brings together the Avera mission with the Avera Strategic Plan and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) National Quality Strategy with the goal of benefiting patients with higher quality, safer and more affordable care.
Quality Priorities
Quality priorities are where all caregiving entities can come together to work on larger scope strategies together. Avera’s common priorities include:
- Prevent avoidable hospitalizations and readmissions
- Prevent harm related to health care-acquired infections
- Improve customer experience and engagement in all care settings
In addition to the above priorities, Avera quality leaders support appropriate goals and objectives that align with the National Quality Strategy through local plans. These additional national priorities include:
- Affordability and efficiency
- Behavioral health
- Chronic conditions
- Health equity
- Person-centered care
- Wellness and prevention
- Safety
- Seamless care coordination
These priorities are based on the CMS Meaningful Measures, which have been identified by CMS as high priority areas for quality measurement and improvement, with a goal of improving health outcomes for patients, their families and health care entities.
Continuous Improvement
Avera’s Quality Plan supports a continuous approach to improving performance focusing on the processes and systems that affect the delivery of service and patient outcomes. Avera monitors quality of care and services through a process that includes:
- Status reports based on Avera’s priorities for this quality plan
- Standardized reporting
- Reviewing findings against benchmarks and targets
- Tracking, investigating and monitoring adverse events and implementing action plans to prevent recurrences
Preparing for the Future
Avera will focus on system-wide initiatives to prepare for the advancement of digital quality measures (dQMs), support Avera’s Health equity journey, and the expansion of patient-reported outcome measures.
The health care environment continues to shift toward value-based care, making quality essential to health care. The focus on health promotion, at-risk populations, and patient engagement requires collaboration and innovation as quality programs continue to align.
Avera system quality leaders collaborate regularly to explore trends and discuss alignment opportunities, and strategies to best position Avera in the future.
