Articles Tagged With:
-
Behavioral health and hospital costs
When you think about it, it’s not the fact that’s surprising, but the extent. In 13 New Jersey hospitals, a third of all hospital costs were associated with behavioral health issues, such as substance abuse or mental illness. Even more alarming, the report by the Rutgers University Center for State Health Policy noted that three-fourths of the highest users of hospital services were afflicted with behavioral health conditions, compared to about a third of those who were not considered high users of services.
-
Patient safety on the night shift
The floors are quiet, patients are asleep, and residents are trying to either catch some shut-eye or catch up on paperwork. The rush of the evening hours in the emergency department has ended. Yet the wee hours of the morning — 4 a.m. to 7 a.m. — are when doctors think the hospital is at its least safe, according to a new study.1
-
Leadership Involvement Improves Quality
A study looks at quality improvement and patient safety, and how they trickled down to actual quality of care and outcomes.
-
The conflict between quality and patient experience
Imagine you are trying desperately to reduce your fall rate and you have instituted a program with bed alarms for patients who meet certain criteria. You may find yourself really pleased to note a reduction in falls, but at the same time you are noticing your patient satisfaction scores are taking a hit. Patients are talking about the noise of alarms, of feeling infantilized, of their sense of control being taken away. Is there a link? Maybe, according to an editorial in the American Journal of Medical Quality.1
-
Less harm done in 2013, says AHRQ
The data look so good for the headlines: in 2012-2013, hospital-acquired conditions such as urinary tract infections and falls fell by 9%, saving about $8 billion. Stretching back another year, to 2011, the total cost savings reached an estimated $12 billion, with about 1.3 million cases of harm and 50,000 deaths prevented. All this good news came in a December report released by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).
-
Skills for Success as a Quality Professional
What does it take to be a good quality professional? Even at the entry level, it's the ability to lead.
-
Paradoxical Low-flow, Low-gradient AS
This article originally appeared in the January 2015 issue of Clinical Cardiology Alert. It was peer reviewed by Susan Zhao, MD. Dr. Crawford is Professor of Medicine, Chief of Clinical Cardiology, University of California, San Francisco. He is the editor of Clinical Cardiology Alert. Dr. Zhao is Director, Adult Echocardiography Laboratory, Associate Chief, Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, Santa Clara Valley Medical Center. Dr. Crawford and Dr. Zhao report no financial relationships relevant to this field of study.
-
Sudden Death Risk: ARBs or ACE Inhibitors & Co-trimoxazole
Older patients using an angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor or an angiotensin receptor blocker with co-trimoxazole had an increased risk of sudden death.
-
Prior Authorization versus Prospective Audit with Provider Feedback: Does the Effectiveness of the Core Antimicrobial Stewardship Strategies Differ?
SYNOPSIS: In a single academic medical center, changing from a strategy of prior authorization to prospective audit with feedback led to significantly increased total antibiotic use and use of agents with a broad spectrum of gram-negative activity.
-
Should Long-acting Bronchodilators Be Used in Acute Exacerbations of COPD?
ABSTRACT & COMMENTARY: There's a disappointingly high rate of non-recommended drug administration.