Joint Commission Annual Report Shows Gains in Patient Care Quality

Accredited hospitals in America have steadily improved the quality of patient care over a seven-year period, saving lives and improving the health of thousands of patients, according to The Joint Commission’s latest annual report. The report, Improving America’s Hospitals: The Joint Commission’s Report on Quality and Safety 2009, provides scientific evidence of improvements in the care of patients with heart attacks, heart failure, pneumonia, and surgical conditions. Since their inception as core measures in 2002, pneumococcal vaccination and smoking cessation advice measures have demonstrated the greatest rates of improvement. Children’s asthma care also was measured and included in the report for the first time.