Quality Metrics Over the Decades

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    Major Events that Improved Healthcare Quality

    where quality in health care began and where it is today
  • Establishing basic standards

    Revolutionized U.S. medical education by calling for higher standards in training and scientific practice.
  • First Group Health Insurance Plan

    The development of employer-based insurance, eventually improving access to consistent medical care.
  • Social Security Act

    Created public health programs for maternal and child health, laying groundwork for population-based health services.
  • Hill-Burton Act

    Funded hospital construction in underserved areas, improving healthcare access and facility quality across the U.S.
  • Joint Commission on Accreditation of Hospitals (JCAH) formed

    JCAH began formally accrediting hospitals, setting rigorous standards for care delivery.
  • Creation of Medicare and Medicaid

    Expanded healthcare access to older adults, low-income populations, and people with disabilities; improving continuity and quality of care.
  • Professional Standards Review Organizations

    Introduced peer review mechanisms for Medicare services to ensure care was necessary and met quality standards.
  • Agency for Health Care Policy and Research established

    First federal agency dedicated to improving healthcare quality through evidence-based research and outcomes measurement.
  • IOM Report: To Err Is Human

    Revealed that up to 98,000 Americans die annually from preventable medical errors, launching the modern patient safety movement.
  • IOM Report: Crossing the Quality Chasm

    Defined six aims for high quality healthcare: safe, effective, patient-centered, timely, efficient, and equitable.
  • The Affordable Care Act

    Expanded access to insurance and created quality-focused reforms like the Hospital Value-Based Purchasing Program and ACO models.
  • Launch of the CMS Health Equity Framework

    The Centers for Medicare Medicaid Services (CMS) introduced its Health Equity Framework, focusing on embedding health equity into every aspect of healthcare delivery and payment models.
  • AI Transparency and Accountability

    As AI tools become widespread in diagnostics, treatment planning, and administrative tasks, healthcare systems must ensure AI is used ethically, transparently, and with human oversight.
  • Planetary Health Integration

    Climate change is increasingly recognized as a determinant of health. Future healthcare systems must measure how well they mitigate and adapt to environmental health risks.