Healthcare Benchmarks and Quality Improvement Archives – March 1, 2009
March 1, 2009
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Joint Commission paints detailed picture of 'Hospital of the Future'
The project was nothing if not ambitious; The Joint Commission assembled a blue-ribbon roundtable of experts hospital executives, clinical leaders, and experts in technology, health care economics, hospital design, and patient safety and tasked them with analyzing how socio-economic trends, technology, the physical environment of care, patient-centered care values, and ongoing staffing challenges will affect the hospital of the future. -
How do you get from 'here' to 'there'?
No doubt quality managers are eager to sign on to many of the goals outlined in The Joint Commission's white paper, "Health Care at the Crossroads: Guiding Principles for the Development of the Hospital of the Future," but in a number of cases, getting from "here" to "there" will require some detailed and well-thought-out strategies. Members of the roundtable who put the report together have some valuable insights to share in this regard. -
Study: In ICU prophylactic antibiotics save lives
A recent study conducted in the Netherlands shows some positive results in the ICU when antibiotics are given to patients before any infection develops, but it also raises a question that the researchers are not prepared to answer: whether the strategy could have unintended consequences in the form of increased drug resistance. -
Pain management model has safety advantages
Hospitals could improve the overall care of patients who are admitted for surgery, palliative care, or for diseases that result in chronic pain if they employ a pharmacist to assist with medication utilization and develop defined medication plans for the more complex cases, an expert suggests. -
Experts discuss pain management issues
Hospitals that have pain management teams with pharmacists on board benefit from having a medication specialist help improve safety and improve patient outcomes, experts say. -
Communication with home care staff part of transition
The transition from hospital to home health can be a rocky one, which is why hospital discharge planners need to make communication with home health staff a priority, experts say.