Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/1235190
29 QUALITY IMPROVEMENT & MEASUREMENT IU Health to train caregivers on CPR quarterly By Mackenzie Bean I ndianapolis-based IU Health is rolling out a new CPR training program for its 20,000 front-line providers, the system announced Feb. 17. Rather than sending caregivers to CPR classes every two years, the system will train employees in-house once a quarter. The training program, called Resuscitation Quality Im- provement 2020, uses online simulations and real-world practice on computerized mannequins to assess em- ployees' competence. The program aims to improve patient outcomes and re- duce preventable deaths by ensuring employees better retain CPR skills, according to Jonathan Gottlieb, MD, executive vice president and CMO at IU Health. "If high-quality CPR is lacking, lives can be lost," he said in a press release emailed to Becker's. Several IU Health hospitals have already implemented the new training program, which will expand system- wide over the next few months. The health system said it expects to spend $7 million over five years to imple- ment and run the program. n Cancer surgery refinements named 'advance of the year' in treatment By Anuja Vaidya R efinements in cancer surgery, including thera- pies that can travel through the body and treat cancer cells where they are, are the top advance in cancer care for 2020, according to the American Society of Clinical Oncology. Every year, the society names an advance of the year, recognizing effective treatments that help reduce the amount of surgery needed and increase the number of patients who can undergo surgery when needed. The organization publishes a report, "Clinical Cancer Advances," that highlights the most important clinical research advances of the year. For 2020, the society selected "refinement of surgi- cal treatment of cancer" as the advance of the year. This includes a recognition of advances in systemic therapies for pancreatic and kidney cancers and melanoma. In particular, developments in neoadju- vant therapies, which are given before surgery, have helped make surgery for patients with advanced melanoma less invasive. n Hospital groups call out CMS over star ratings update By Mackenzie Bean C MS updated its Overall Hospital Quality Star Ratings Jan. 28 with its existing methodology, a move several hospital groups have expressed discontent with. CMS has faced a range of criticism regarding the rating system's methodol- ogy, spurring the agency to delay several ratings updates since their 2016 launch. CMS collected more than 800 comments on its star ratings during a public com- ment period in 2019 and plans to update its methodology in 2021. "While we appreciate that CMS is working on potential improvements to the star rat- ing methodology for 2021, we strongly be- lieve that today's republication of the flawed and misleading ratings do not advance the goal of providing the public with accurate, purposeful information about quality of care," Tom Nickels, executive vice president of the American Hospital Association, said in a statement to AHA News. America's Essential Hospitals also said it is "disappointed the agency continues to pub- licly post the ratings" in an emailed statement to Becker's. e group claims the current star ratings do not provide accurate information to guide healthcare consumers' care decisions. In a press release announcing the star ratings update, CMS Administrator Seema Verma said Americans deserve updated in- formation on hospitals' quality performance. "While we look ahead to new star ratings proposals, today's updated star ratings use the existing methodology to ensure patients have the information they need," she said. n "The flawed and misleading ratings do not advance the goal of providing the public with accurate, purposeful information about quality of care." - Tom Nickels, Executive Vice President, AHA