The Department of Health & Human Services' (HHS) Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) has unveiled a free, MS Windows-based software application that allows a State, hospital, or other organization to create a customized Web site with data that can be used for internal quality improvement or reporting quality information to the public. The software, titled MONARHQ—My Own Network Powered by AHRQ—significantly reduces the cost and time that would be needed to compile, analyze, and post quality care data.
The usual cost of creating a Web site featuring this data is estimated to be $300,000 or more, and the time necessary to implement it could be a year, according to States testing MONAHRQ. With the new software, that time can be cut to as few days.
Many states currently require that quality data be reported to the public and other States are considering doing so.
A Web site created using MONARHQ will provide information in four areas:
- The quality of care for specific hospitals
- Provision of services by hospital for health conditions and procedures
- Potentially avoidable hospitalizations
- Rates of health conditions and procedures
