Angioplasty: A procedure in which a balloon is inflated to open a blood vessel
Best Practices: Clinical, scientific or professional practices that are recognized by a majority of professionals in a particular field to produce the best results
Criteria: Expected levels of achievement, or specifications against which performance or quality may be compared
Evidence-based: Based on scientific evidence or, in the absence of scientific evidence, on consensus by experts
Indicator: A measure of an event. A measure used to determine over time an organization?s performance. Indicators are measures that can be used to assess quality of care and service. Indicators can be measures of a process or an outcome.
Interdisciplinary: Communication, discussion, planning and treatment activities that occur formally and informally between and among team members who are representatives of multiple disciplines or fields of study
Measurement: The systematic process of data collection, repeated over time or at a single point in time
PCI: Percutaneous Coronary Interventions are procedures that are among the most effective ways to open blocked blood vessels and help prevent further heart muscle damage. A PCI is performed by a doctor to open the blockage and increase blood flow in blocked blood vessels.
Quality Indicator: A measure of the quality of healthcare in or outside the hospital setting. Quality indicators may be classified as outcome indicators (the result or lack of care) or performance indicators (how well an accepted standard of care was met or followed).
Mean: The mean is the average. In mathematics, the mean is the sum of all the members of the set divided by the number of items in the set.
Outcome Measure or Indicator: Measures what happens or does not happen as the result of a process(es). Outcome measures sometimes reflect change in health status between two or more points. One example of an outcome measure is the development of a complications of care (e.g., an infection)
Percentiles: Represents the relative position or rank of a score. The 10th and 90th percentiles for a particular measure are often used to indicate lower and upper values for that measure.
Performance Improvement: The continuous study and modification of a health care organization?s functions and processes to increase the likelihood of achieving desired outcomes and to better meet the needs of individual patients.
Process Measure or Indicator: A measure of an activity that is carried out either directly or indirectly to care for patients. Process measures are believed to affect an outcome (e.g., whether a patient received the best medication may affect length or severity of illness)
Quality Indicator: A measure of the quality of health care in or outside the hospital setting. Quality indicators may be classified as outcome indicators (the result of care or lack of care) or performance indicators (how well an accepted standard of care was met or followed).
Rate: The percentage of cases that had the outcome meeting the criteria for the indicator
Risk Adjustment: Taking patient-related attributes, such as age, gender, or pre-existing conditions into account. This helps make the comparison of healthcare measures among hospitals seeing different mixes of patients as fair and meaningful as possible. The idea is to compare hospital performance using the same ?standard patient mix? for each hospital, thus creating a level field for comparison. The standard mix is usually the patient mix of all hospitals combined.
Risk Adjusted Rate: The rate after mathematically taking into consideration the risk of complication of the patient and procedural risk factors. The risk adjustment process allows more accurate comparison of facilities.
Standard: A statement that defines the performance expectations that must be in place for an organization to provide safe and high quality care, treatment and service
Stenting: A procedure in which a small wire tube, called a stent, is placed in a blood vessel to hold it open.
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