Quality of care at Sharp HealthCare

Accreditation

Sharp HealthCare's acute-care hospitals and all associated services have been accredited with full standard compliance by The Joint Commission.

To earn and keep accreditation, each hospital must undergo an extensive on-site review by a team of The Joint Commission health care professionals, including doctors and nurses, at least once every three years.

The Joint Commission accreditation is voluntary. By maintaining its accreditation, Sharp HealthCare shows its dedication to providing the best quality and the safest health care to the San Diego community.

Meeting regulatory requirements

Sharp HealthCare is proud to be certified by and in compliance with all requirements of all regulatory agencies.

All Sharp HealthCare medical centers are recognized by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), which has developed conditions of participation that health care organizations must meet to participate in the Medicare and Medicaid programs. These standards are used to improve quality and protect the health and safety of beneficiaries.

All Sharp HealthCare medical centers are licensed by the California Department of Public Health. An on-site survey is conducted to assess compliance with state and federal regulations. This survey includes physical plant evaluation, patient care, pharmacy services and other areas that affect patient care.

Sharp HealthCare shows its dedication to providing the best quality and the safest health care by maintaining its voluntary accreditation with The Joint Commission. To earn and keep accreditation, each hospital must undergo an extensive on-site review by a team of The Joint Commission health care professionals, including doctors and nurses, at least once every three years.

Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Hospital Compare

The CMS is a federal agency working to improve the quality of care in our nation's hospitals. Sponsored by the federal government, the Hospital Quality Initiative (HQI) program gathers and publicly reports comprehensive data on hospitals in the categories of patient experience, timely and effective care, complications, readmissions and death, use of medical imaging and value of care.

CalHospital Compare

CalHospital Compare was established to develop a collaborative, comprehensive, statewide online hospital performance reporting system. The focus is to report the performance of individual California hospitals in a standard, easy-to-understand format. At Sharp HealthCare, we strongly support public reporting of hospital data to help consumers make informed choices. For many years, we have voluntarily reported our clinical outcomes on the care we deliver to the public.

The Joint Commission

Sharp's hospitals are accredited by The Joint Commission. This accreditation and certification is a symbol of quality that reflects our commitment to meeting established performance standards. In 2017, Sharp was recognized as one of the nation's top performers by The Joint Commission.

Leapfrog

At Sharp, it's important to us to make finding great care easy for our patients. One way we do this is by participating in Leapfrog's Hospital Survey. The annual survey assesses hospital safety, quality and efficiency based on national performance measures. Leapfrog shares results on their website, and also provides a letter grade rating on patient safety at hospitals. Known as the Safety Grade, this rating provides information on how likely it is you will experience errors or harm while in the hospital.

The California Maternal Quality Care Collaborative (CMQCC)

This multi-stakeholder organization is committed to ending preventable morbidity, mortality and racial disparities in California maternity care. CMQCC uses research, quality improvement toolkits, statewide collaboratives and its innovative maternal data center to improve health outcomes for mothers and infants. The organization was founded in 2006 at Stanford University School of Medicine together with the State of California in response to rising maternal mortality and morbidity rates. Sharp HealthCare is a founding member of CMQCC.

Magnet

At Sharp, we are proud to have received Magnet® recognition at Sharp Chula Vista Medical Center, Sharp Grossmont Hospital, Sharp Mary Birch Hospital for Women & Newborns and Sharp Memorial Hospital. Given by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), Magnet recognition is the highest and most prestigious distinction for nursing excellence and high-quality patient care. The ANCC evaluates health care facilities based on work environment, nursing excellence, innovations in nursing practice and quality patient outcomes.

California Department of Public Health

This department publishes press releases about public health issues for the state of California.

In February 2018, the Hospital Quality Institute (HQI), in cooperation with the Patient Safety Movement Foundation and California Hospital Association (CHA), launched the Advancing Transparency in Hospital Quality Data project and invited every hospital in California to participate. The CHA and HQI believe that hospitals need to be more transparent to the public and that transparency is critical in driving overall improvement in patient safety and quality.

At Sharp, we take patient safety and quality very seriously and we're proud to participate in this project. Our outcome measures are listed in these transparency reports.

• Sharp Chula Vista Medical Center, Sharp Grossmont Hospital and Sharp Memorial Hospital have a Maternity Safety Program in place. A maternity safety program provides a coordinated approach and emergency response to risks associated with pregnancy and childbirth.

• All Sharp hospitals have a Sepsis Protocol in place. A sepsis protocol provides guidance for a coordinated approach to identification and treatment of an infection and inflammatory response that is present throughout the body.

• All Sharp hospitals have a Respiratory Monitoring Program in place. Respiratory monitoring provides guidance for assessment of risk of respiratory depression, and includes continuous monitoring of breathing and functioning of the lungs and circulatory system when indicated.