Health Information Compliance Alert

Published on Sun Jul 26, 2009 PDF

AHRQ's Web-based application MONAHRQ will be available this fall.

No need to search far and wide for hospitalization information and quality of care data. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality expects to launch a Web-based application this fall that will let public and private statewide health organizations report and analyze hospital discharge data in their region and use it to generate a Web site.

The software, called "My Own Network Powered by AHRQ" or MONAHRQ, will allow state health information groups to record discharge data and hospital administrative data such as patient statistics on length of stay and charges, said Anne Elixhauser, a research scientist at AHRQ, an  agency of the Department of Health and Human Services.

How it works: MONAHRQ software will analyze and summarize the inputs of organizations. It will then present information on the quality of care, preventable hospitalizations, rates of conditions and procedures, and health care utilization in a ready-to-use format for consumers and other decision-makers.

Currently, it is difficult to find a central site where hospitals can post information inexpensively and where consumers can find cost and other data, said Elixhauser. Some states have voluntary reporting of discharge information for hospitals, while others are considering mandatory reporting.

Any organization with hospital administrative data can use MONAHRQ to generate its own website for internal use or public release. Organizations would host the new tool on their own Web servers and populate it with their own hospital administrative data. AHRQ also will consider using other data on MONAHRQ sites, including measures from HHS' Hospital Compare site, claims data, and vital statistics.

Plus, the Web site generated by MONAHRQ will be an interactive querying tool that users can navigate to learn about healthcare in their area. Email MONAHRQ@ahrq.gov for more information.