Healthcare Benchmarks and Quality Improvement Archives – December 1, 2005
December 1, 2005
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Collaborative model shows early success in battling MRSA
A unique collaborative model in the region surrounding Pittsburgh, PA, has shown significant success battling methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, (MRSA), with early participants in the program showing infection rate reductions of 85%. -
Positive deviance: An inside look
A 250-bed long-term care facility and a 140-bed acute care hospital in Pittsburgh, PA, part of the Veterans Administration Pittsburgh Healthcare System (VAPHS), are applying the concept of Positive Deviance in their efforts to eliminate MRSA from both facilities. -
Lean production efforts help save $7.5M in 1 year
Park Nicollett Health Services (PNHS), a health care system based in St. Louis Park, MN, has demonstrated savings of $7.5 million in 2004 as the result of adopting the Toyota Production System also known as Lean Production. -
QIO helps hospital achieve dramatic results
In late 2002, a hospital-based cardiac surgery center in Florida received an initial sanction notice from the Florida Medical Quality Assurance, Inc. (FMQAI), the states QIO. Today, it is the proud recipient of JCAHOs Gold Seal of Approval for coronary artery disease care. -
Physician satisfaction helps gain buy-in for QI
A physicians satisfaction team developed at All Saints Hospital in Racine, WI, has helped gain physician buy-in for the new service-oriented culture the quality department is seeking to encourage at the facility. -
AHRMM task force takes aim at supply expense
The American Hospital Associations Association for Healthcare Resource & Materials Management (AHRMM), with support from the Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA), has developed a standard definition for supply expense that health care organizations can use to compare their supply costs to others in the field and look for ways to improve the care they provide to their communities. -
JCAHO to look closely at patient handoffs
An emergency department patient is brought in for an X-ray, but the nurse forgets to tell the radiologist about the patients allergy to contrast dye. During a change of shift, a caregiver doesnt mention that the patient is at high risk for a fall injury.