FROM: Theodore O. Will, Chief Executive Officer
DATE: Nov 15, 2002
SUBJECT: Release of CART - CMS Abstraction and Reporting Tool
IPRO CONTACTS:
Marguerite Shaffer, Senior Director, Improvement Strategies, ext. 634
Enclosed you will find a disk containing the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Abstraction & Reporting Tool (CART) software and documentation. Printed installation instructions are also enclosed. Designed and developed by CMS with input from the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) and Quality Improvement Organizations (QIOs), CART is a powerful application for the collection and analysis of quality improvement data. Through data collection, retrospective analyses and real-time reporting, CART enables hospitals to comprehensively evaluate and manage quality improvement efforts.
Research has proven that system changes are integral to any quality improvement initiative. Data obtained using CART will assist in identifying areas requiring system changes, as well as the progress of existing system enhancements. CART is ideal for the data collection and analyses that are essential to the success of all quality improvement efforts.
The application is available at no charge to hospitals or other organizations seeking to improve the quality of care in the following clinical areas:
CART is available for use on stand-alone Windows-based computers, computer networks or environments without computing resources (paper tool). In the future, a Web-based version of CART will be available at QualityNet Exchange (www.qnetexchange.org). Support for CART will include: abstraction definitions, user guides, training and data feedback.
Should you have any questions regarding CART, please feel free to call one of the contacts listed above.