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The Centers for Disease Control and Preventions (CDC) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) has released its revised recommendations for the prevention and control of influenza.
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Merging the case management department with the quality department is the best thing weve ever done, says Sharon Simmons, CRNP, MSN, CNOR, director of clinical excellence for St. Vincents Hospital in Birmingham, AL. Combining the departments has resulted in a tremendous improvement in quality of care as well as improved outcomes, she adds.
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If your hospital isnt using case management software that is integrated with the rest of the hospitals information systems, you may be behind the curve, asserts Vicky Mahn-DiNicola, RN, MS, vice president of ACS Healthcare Solutions, a Tucson, AZ-based health care technology firm.
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What happens in your emergency department (ED) when a patient shows up complaining that he still has that terrible headache you sent him home with six hours ago? Do staff label him a whiner and send him back out the door with some Tylenol?
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By tracking length of stay and direct variable cost of care, the case management department at Covenant Health System, based in Knoxville, TN, was able to show a savings of $3.6 million in the first three quarters of last year and a denial rate of less than 1% at most of its facilities.
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A physician champion made all the difference when Methodist Medical Center (MMC) in Oak Ridge, TN, started its CareTrax clinical pathway system in 1993, says Coletta Manning, RN, MHA, CPHQ.
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Correct control chart selection is a critical part of creating a control chart, according to PQ Systems, an industry leader in the manufacturing of statistical process control (SPC) and quality control software based in Miamisburg, OH.
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It was about 2 a.m., Sept. 16, when Hurricane Ivan roared into Pensacola, FL, with 130-mile-per-hour winds, battering the boarded-up windows of Sacred Heart Hospital, knocking out the electricity and forcing the hospital to operate on emergency generators. Many staff had arrived at the hospital before the storm hit, anticipating problems with transportation afterward, and they all sprang into action to make sure the patients and more than 2,000 family members of patients and staff being sheltered at the hospital were safe.
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Public reporting of quality measures is likely to increase in the near future, and hospitals should get ready, asserts Carolyn Scott, director of collaborative services and CEO work groups for clinical excellence with VHA Inc., an Irving, TX-based health care cooperative.