Quality Initiatives

Crouse Health has joined hospitals, health systems and other healthcare provider organizations across the state by signing on to the Healthcare Association of New York State’s Commitment to Excellence program, affirming our commitment to continuous quality improvement, patient safety and performance excellence.

Crouse Hospital also actively participates in numerous quality improvement initiatives to improve the delivery of care, increase patient satisfaction and improve the overall patient experience. Here’s a partial listing:

• HCAHPS – The Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAPHS) was developed by the Centers of Medicare and Medicaid Services to standardize survey instruments and data collection for measuring and publicly reporting patients’ perspectives on hospital care.
• The Leapfrog Group – Crouse participates in The Leapfrog Group, which is the only rating focused exclusively on hospital safety. Its A, B, C, D or F letter grades for more than 3,000 hospitals across the country are a quick way for consumers to choose the safest hospital to seek care. The grading system is peer-reviewed, fully transparent and free to the public. Grades are updated twice annually, in the fall and spring. In its most recent report from the fall of 2022, Crouse received a B score, the highest of any hospital in Central New York.
• National Quality Indicators – Crouse Hospital participates in national quality outcome measure initiatives to compare current key clinical outcomes with like organizations and identify/prioritize opportunities for improved processes or clinical outcomes. Some of these initiatives include:
  • National Database of Nursing Quality Indicators – A national database for nursing quality indicators that collects and evaluates unit-specific nurse-sensitive data from hospitals in the United States for quality improvement purposes.
  • Press Ganey – More than 20 years ago, seven hospitals in Maryland agreed to what was then an unprecedented activity: they began sharing sensitive data on clinical outcomes with an eye toward learning from one another. These outcomes include surgical infection prevention, pneumonia, congestive heart failure and acute myocardial infarction (heart attack). Their burning questions: Are we doing the right things? Are we doing them well? The groundbreaking work of these seven hospitals led to the formation of the Quality Indicator Project. Hospitals all over the country took notice. Today, over 1,000 acute care hospitals, including Crouse, use this data in their efforts to oversee patient care quality and identify opportunities for improvement.
  • American Heart Association/American Stroke Association “Get with the Guidelines” – The premier hospital-based quality improvement program for the American Heart Association and the American Stroke Association. It empowers healthcare provider teams to consistently treat heart and stroke patients according to the most up-to-date guidelines. Crouse is proud to be the area’s first Gold Plus-designated hospital for stroke care for consistent high-level performance in the care and treatment of stroke patients.
• Lean Six Sigma Collaborative – Crouse has teamed up with the emergency medical services community and Hillrom to provide Lean Six Sigma training to hospital staff members, regional EMS providers and engineers and product development specialists from Hillrom. Crouse started this innovative training and performance improvement collaborative in 2012, in partnership with Rochester Institute of Technology and Rural/Metro.
• Collaborating to Improve Cardiac Care – Crouse Hospital is partnering with Rural/Metro Medical Services and the Central New York Emergency Medical Services Program to improve early detection and treatment of patients who suffer the most serious form of heart attack, referred to as a ST-Segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction (or “STEMI”). Over the past year, the partners have studied factors involved in the diagnosis and treatment of heart attack patients through the entire patient experience – from the start of emergency care and beyond. Each year, thousands of people suffer heart attacks, with the most commonly reported symptom being chest pain. Current emergency medical services (EMS) protocols use that symptom as an indication to obtain a 12-lead diagnostic electrocardiogram (EKG) in the ambulance, prior to hospital arrival. Rural/Metro participates in the LifeNet program, which transmits these important tests to the hospital electronically from the ambulance. In 2011, Rural/Metro transmitted over 10,000 EKGs to area hospitals through LifeNet. This action provides a base for collaborative care between the hospital and paramedics prior to a patient arriving at a hospital ER. Research shows, however, that only 67 percent of patients experiencing a heart attack actually complain of chest pain as a symptom. This means that nearly one third of those suffering a heart attack may not experience chest pain. Other symptoms can include shortness of breath, fatigue, nausea, heartburn, dizziness, or pain in other areas of the body. The organizations involved in the project would like to work with the Regional Emergency Medical Advisory Council to establish new protocols for patient care. Over time, these new protocols could be further evaluated and considered for broader use throughout the region, state and beyond.
• Lung Partners – Started in 2010, this innovative Crouse-developed program puts the care of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients in the hands of a multidisciplinary respiratory care team to provide more efficient, personalized care and increase compliance with post-discharge care. Click here for the Lung Partners handbook.
• Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Accreditation and Quality Improvement Program (MBSAQIP) – Crouse Health is a MBSAQIP-accredited center. This program works to advance safe, high-quality care for bariatric surgical patients through the accreditation of bariatric surgical centers. A bariatric surgical center achieves accreditation following a rigorous review process during which it proves that it can maintain certain physical resources, human resources, and standards of practice. All accredited centers report their outcomes to the MBSAQIP database. Additional information can be found here.