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Are handoffs too ‘automatic’? QI experts fear errors could rise

When the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) speaks, people listen. That was certainly the case when it began to issue its National Patient Safety Goals; health care professionals sat up and took notice and immediately began designing processes for complying with the new standards.

Stroke program wins first Codman award for DM

The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations has named Swedish Medical Center in Seattle, WA, the winner of the inaugural Ernest Amory Codman Award in the disease-specific care category, for establishing a comprehensive program that deploys a coordinated team to assure comprehensive, timely, and efficient acute stroke care.

Michigan P4P program given high grades

Since its one of the oldest incentive programs in the country, it might not come as a big surprise that Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan was among seven Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Rewarding Results grantees selected to highlight its successes in pay-for-performance programs during a National Press Club briefing on November 15 in Washington, DC., but the results it has have achieved to date are nonetheless impressive.

P4P can improve quality, proponents say

Pay-for-Performance programs can improve both medical care and quality of life by giving health care providers a financial incentive to seek measurable improvements in the health of their patients, it was reported in a November 15, 2005 National Press Club briefing in Washington, DC.

Study: Chances missed to avoid many heart attacks

Despite the fact that clogged arteries in the legs usually mean clogged arteries near the heart, a new study led by a University of Michigan cardiologist finds that doctors often fail to give heart-protecting care to people who have clogged blood vessels in their legs. Lack of aggressive treatment for body-wide problems means missed heart attack prevention opportunities, the study shows.

AMA unveils health care ethics program, toolkit

The Ethical Force Program, a collaborative effort of the American Medical Association (AMA) to develop health care systemwide performance measures for ethics, will be field-testing a tool kit on patient-centered communication with diverse populations from March to December 2006 with eight volunteer hospitals and eight physician groups.

CMS releases HCAHPS survey instrument

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently released the final Hospital CAHPS (HCAHPS) survey instrument. The HCAHPS survey is the first national attempt to standardize patients satisfaction with care in order to make apples to apples comparisons.

AMA develops toolkit for 100K Lives

As a strategic partner in the Institute for Healthcare Improvements (IHI) 100,000 Lives Campaign, the American Medical Association (AMA) recently launched two online toolkits to encourage physicians to join the initiative. More than 2,800 hospitals already are participating.

C diff: New, more virulent strain emerges

Particularly disturbing are new reports in four states of infections in patients previously thought to be at low risk for C. diff.

Healthcare Benchmarks and Quality Improvement Archives – January 1, 2006

January 1, 2006