Healthcare Benchmarks and Quality Improvement Archives – March 1, 2010
March 1, 2010
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IHI program building foundation for more quality-conscious providers
Quality experts have long bemoaned the fact that medical students are taught precious little about quality and patient safety, but that trend has been changing thanks to a program sponsored by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI). -
Quality award winner takes 'STEPPS' to improve
Exeter (NH) Hospital has already demonstrated its ability to improve quality and patient safety, but it's nowhere near finished. -
Video gets patients more involved in hand hygiene
A hand hygiene video developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that asks patients to become partners in ensuring compliance by remindings caregivers to wash their hands prior to any treatment was shown to be effective in increasing the frequency with which patients questioned their providers about hand washing. -
Compliance rates low on egress, fire safety
For the first time in several years, The Joint Commission standards and goals with the lowest compliance rates are not directly related to the delivery of health care. -
Fire standards are key for EDs
The fire safety standards set forth by The Joint Commission, which have low compliance rates, should receive special attention from ED managers. -
Quality Check measures added by Joint Commission
As of January 2010, The Joint Commission has incorporated into its Quality Check web site (www.qualitycheck.org/consumer/searchQCR.aspx) the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' (CMS') 30-day readmission rates for heart attack, heart failure, and pneumonia Medicare patients. -
Data hold the key to low readmit rates
With The Joint Commission incorporating the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' (CMS) 30-day readmission rates for heart attack, heart failure, and pneumonia Medicare patients into its Quality Check web site (www.qualitycheck.org), the performance of individual facilities will come under greater scrutiny. -
Flow strategies cover processes in and out of ED
Because many throughput problems experienced by EDs are not caused by EDs, those managers who find themselves operating in a vacuum have little chance of success. -
Predicting admits, discharges vital
The numbers don't lie, and having a handle on the numbers is a critical part of developing effective strategies for improving patient flow, says Pamela Kiessling, RN, MSN, director of patient flow & clinical integration, clinical & business integration, and patient services at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center.