Becker's Hospital Review

128 CMO / CARE DELIVERY CMOs see new job opportunities as businesses focus on safety By Kelly Gooch H ealth systems are now more at risk of losing their CMOs as com- panies seek expert medical advice amid the COVID-19 pandem- ic, reported The Wall Street Journal. Tyson Foods and Royal Caribbean Cruises are among companies that recently added CMOs to their executive teams. While most companies outside of healthcare and pharmaceutical industries do not have a CMO, more companies in other sectors are seeking these health experts to help them keep workers and consumers safe from the virus, according to the Journal. Tyson Foods, for example, is boosting employee monitoring for the virus, and Royal Caribbean hired a CMO to oversee work- er health and help with establishing new sailing protocols for the industry. "The more you actually have to be responsible for caring for people, the more likely you need a CMO," Andrew Diamond, MD, PhD, the CMO of One Medical, a membership-based chain of primary care clinics, told the newspaper. "In the case of a cruise line, these ships all have doctors on the ship. It makes a good bit of sense." Dr. Diamond also said other employers, such as tech companies to school systems that are not bringing on CMOs, still seek help from out- side companies as they try to keep employees safe at work. n 5 ways hospitals can boost clinician engagement in quality improvement By Gabrielle Masson D edicated time, mentorship and participation in a professional quality improvement network are the most significant factors to nurture clinicians' self-efficacy and effectiveness in QI, according to a study published in International Journal for Quality in Health Care. Researchers at Sacramento, Calif.-based UC Davis Health analyzed sur- vey responses from 212 clinicians who are members and fellows of the International Society for Quality in Healthcare. They measured self-effica- cy and effectiveness of clinicians in conducting and leading QI activities. Five main factors that increased clinicians' effectiveness in QI: 1. Dedicated time for quality improvement. 2. Working within multidisciplinary improvement teams. 3. Professional development in QI, including formal training inside and outsidethe organization and QI organizational memberships. 4. Ability to select areas for improvement that the clinician views as high priority or that interests them. 5. Organizational values and culture that supports QI. The study also found that some of the most successful clinical QI initiatives fo- cused on improving patient safety and reduction in medical errors, reducing waits and delays in care, reducing overuse of unnecessary services, improv- ing patient- and family-centered care, and/or reducing health disparities. n CMS shares proposed star ratings changes: 4 takeaways By Mackenzie Bean C MS has outlined proposed changes to the Overall Hospital Quality Star Rating meth- odology, which would take place next year. e agency shared the changes in its Outpa- tient Prospective Payment System proposed rule released Aug. 4. Four takeaways: 1. CMS sorts star rating quality measures into sev- en groups and uses a statistical modeling method called latent variable modeling to create a com- posite score for each group. e proposed meth- odology would scrap latent variable modeling and instead use a simple average of measure scores to calculate the group score. 2. CMS proposed combining three process mea- sure groups — effectiveness of care, timeliness of care and efficient use of medical imaging — into a single measure group labeled "timely and effective care." is consolidation would result in five mea- sure groups instead of seven. e proposal aligns with the CMS Meaningful Measure Initiative, which aims to reduce the regulatory hurdles asso- ciated with quality reporting. Star ratings currently include 51 quality measures, down from 64 when they launched in 2016. 3. To receive a star rating, hospitals must share data on at least three measures in at least three measure groups, one of which must be the mortal- ity or safety of care outcome group. CMS said the proposed consolidation of measure groups would help 157 more critical access hospitals meet this threshold to receive a ranking. At present, these facilities serve too few patients to report measures for each group. 4. Hospital groups and industry leaders have long called for changes to the star ratings system, saying the methodology is flawed and produces mislead- ing results. Hospital groups responded fairly posi- tively to the proposed changes. "In light of the substantial flaws with CMS's current approach to hospital star ratings, we appreciate that the agency is exploring ways of improving the methodology," Tom Nickels, executive vice presi- dent of the American Hospital Association, said in a statement. "We look forward to reviewing the proposed methodology changes in depth." n

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