Starting in January 2011, the Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department (FEMS) began submitting cardiac arrest data to the Cardiac Arrest Registry to Enhance Survival (or CARES). CARES was developed to help communities determine standard outcome measures for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) locally allowing for quality improvement efforts and benchmarking capability to improve care and increase survival. FEMS typically treats and/or transports between 700 and 1,100 cardiac arrest patients each year.
Starting in FY 2020, the DC Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department (FEMS) began adopting the National EMS Quality Alliance (NEMSQA) “Compass 2.0” measures (Compass Measures) as Key Performance Indicators to monitor and evaluate the clinical performance of the Agency. The measures were developed by a Technical Expert Panel comprised of medical professionals and subject matter experts to evaluate available science and literature on specific areas of interest in prehospital medicine. When evidence was not available, the Technical Expert Panel relied on subject matter experts and assessed industry practices to determine the value of a particular measure. Additionally, Compass Measures use National EMS Information Systems (NEMSIS) data elements to standardize measures, and subsequently has the added benefit of local, regional, and national benchmarking. These efforts are contributing to the continued success of our emergency medical services through a systematic process of review, analysis and improvement.
Starting in October 2008, FEMS began measuring patient satisfaction by mailing a survey to each patient transported by a Department ambulance. The FEMS patient survey uses a number of measures to evaluate patient satisfaction with FEMS response time, crew behavior and overall service. During the period of a year, FEMS typically reviews 2,000 returned surveys. Patient survey results have a margin of error of +/- 5% with at least a 95% level of confidence based on the number of FEMS patient transports and returned surveys during a year.
Patient outcome measures are essential for assessing and improving both product and service quality in healthcare. Product quality assessment focuses on measuring and improving timely, appropriate and successful treatment provided to patients. Service quality assessment focuses on measuring and improving employee professionalism, competence, attitude and empathy as perceived by patients.