Harrisburg, PA - May 7, 1998 - At its May 7th bi-monthly public meeting, the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council will formally recognize 57 general acute care hospitals and nine freestanding medical facilities for their commitment to make a difference in the cost and quality of health care in Pennsylvania. The Council is honoring these 66 health care facilities with a Certificate of Excellence for their dedication in meeting the legally established guidelines for accurate and timely data submission to the Council. Of the 265 facilities required to submit data to the Council, 66 have successfully submitted their inpatient hospital records within 90 days after the close of the previous calendar quarter and maintained an error ratio of less than 25%.
"The cooperation of the hospitals in meeting the required deadlines for data submission is critical to the timing and accuracy of the Council's public reports," said Clifford L. Jones, Executive Director of the Council. "We wish to recognize and compliment the hospital staff who have worked so diligently to provide consistent, timely, and accurate information about the cost and quality of health care in Pennsylvania."
Forty-eight fields of data from more than two million inpatient hospital records are collected each year. The Council uses these data to produce public and special reports on the performance outcomes of hospitals, physicians and health care plans in Pennsylvania. Over 80 public reports and hundreds of special reports have been produced since the Council's inception in 1986. In addition to the inpatient data, the Council has begun reporting ambulatory data as well.
The Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council is an independent state agency responsible for addressing the cost and quality of health care in Pennsylvania. The Council promotes health care competition through the collection, analysis, and public distribution of cost and quality health care information.