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The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations recent announcement that it will switch to unannounced surveys beginning January 2006 means quality improvement professionals will have to dramatically change the way they think about compliance with standards and ensure that the rest of the organization follows suit.
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Quality improvement and peer review professionals must continue to focus on Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) compliance long after the deadlines pass, say experts, who caution that protecting sensitive data will be a constant worry even after you have the appropriate mechanisms in place.
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A quality improvement project in Dayton, OH, achieved a 36% drop in mortality from acute myocardial infarction (AMI) among a group of hospitals cooperating on the effort, and participants say it could not have been done without high-quality data collection by peer review and quality improvement professionals.
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One way an organization can ensure repeat business is by developing a strong customer service program that includes a concern management system. An effective concern management system involves five steps. The first step document the concerns was described in last months Quality-Co$t Connection column. The last four steps are described in this months column.
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The National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) and the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations announced recently they jointly will offer a Privacy Certification Program for Business Associates.
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Two leading health care industry coalitions have launched a universal web site aimed at standardizing Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) communications between health plans and the provider community, including hospitals, physicians, billing services, vendors, and clearinghouses.
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Editors note: In this first part of a two-part series, ED Management shows how important it is to exercise tight control over camera crews and what can go wrong if you dont.
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ED managers experienced with camera crews offer this advice on how to tightly control the project:
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If you want to improve your EDs patient satisfaction ratings, dont start by looking at how happy your patients are.
