HSMR Intro

On December 11, 2008, the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) released the 2007-08 Hospital Standardized Mortality Ratio (HSMR) results for eligible hospitals, Local Health Integration Networks (LHINs) and Regional Health Authorities across Canada (excluding Quebec).

• The dedicated health professionals who work in this hospital are committed to providing the best possible patient care.
• Patients should know that their hospital is safe, that the care you receive here is top-notch, and that every effort – on behalf of every one of us – is to ensure you receive the highest-quality care possible.
• Our hospital strongly supports the provincial government’s new public reporting regime because we believe it will inspire improved performance, enhance patient safety, and strengthen the public’s confidence in Ontario’s hospitals.
• The public reporting of HSMR results is another, helpful measure for us to ensure your care gets even better over time.
• Our hospital intends to carefully review the CIHI report and our HSMR results, and then work with health professionals to identify and implement system-level improvements – as we do when we receive reports on other safety and quality indicators, such as those in the OHA’s Hospital Report, or in the course of our standard quality improvement programs.
• HSMR gives hospital administrators and health providers a snapshot of a hospital’s performance at a given time – areas where it is performing well and areas where it could improve. As such, HSMR results must be viewed in context with other indicators.
• It is important to note that hospitals – even within a region – often serve different segments of the population with different health needs. That may help explain why our hospital scored differently than other hospitals in our LHIN.
• A higher than average HSMR result does not necessarily mean that a hospital is “unsafe;” a lower than average HSMR does not necessarily mean a hospital is “safe.” That is why it is vital that HSMR results be viewed in the context of other performance indicators.
• The HSMR tool is not intended to serve as a measure for hospitals to compare themselves against other organizations, or for the public to use as a measure of choosing where to seek care.
• HSMR should be used as a tool to help follow progress over time, and make quality improvements based on the results.
• That said, we recognize there is always more to do to make the care we provide better, timelier and safer.