What are Core measures?

Core measures (also called Quality measures) are a set of standardized performance measures developed by the Joint Commission, the best known healthcare accreditation group in the United States, in cooperation with content-specific experts, and endorsed by the National Quality Forum (NQF).   A core measure is medical information from patient records converted into a rate or percentage that shows how well hospitals care for their patients. Core measures give you information about how well a hospital provides care for some but not all of their patients. Areas of focus for Core Measure performance measurement sets include Acute Myocardial Infarction, Heart Failure, Pneumonia and Surgical Care Improvement. 

How is data submitted?

Hospitals report clinical data to the Hospital Quality Alliance which then posts the information on its website as hospital quality measures.  You can use this quality information to help you compare hospitals.