About Quality Measures

Reviewing standard quality measures is one way to determine how well a hospital cares for its patients. There is a very high level of consensus among health care providers and quality experts that these quality measures relate directly to improved health outcomes for patients.

Each measure has been developed carefully through evidence-based medicine, and is consistently measured by the majority of health care organizations.

In addition to the hospital quality measures reported on this site, Scripps teams track hundreds of other measures internally, in order to establish the best care practices, identify areas to improve, and optimize patient safety.

What are quality measures?

Quality measures are percentages or rates that show how often a health care provider gives “recommended care,” which is defined as the treatment known to give the best results for most patients with a particular condition.

Though limited in scope, a review of standard quality measures is one way to illustrate how well a hospital cares for its patients.

How is the data collected?

Quality measure data is primarily based on documentation of the care provided, and not on direct assessments of health care delivery. Quality measure data is collected from medical information in patient records. This information is used to determine whether the hospital provided the recommended care to patients. The hospital’s compliance with standards of recommended care is then converted into a rate or percentage.