Hospital Peer Review 2008-04-01

Measure quality of pediatric care or risk 'disastrous' consequences

Do you have an effective system in place to evaluate the quality of care received by children at your organization?

Multidisciplinary peer review 'more objective'

Review of physician performance by peers is effective when done properly, but the process is time-consuming and often very subjective.

Hospital revamps CHF documentation process

At Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn, NY, congestive heart failure (CHF) has been among the top discharge diagnoses for many years.

Discharge Planning Advisor: Communication barriers, lack of coordination challenge care of behavioral health patients

It puts behavioral health patients at risk if the players coming to the table are not coordinating efforts to make the most efficient use of available resources, notes Mark Catalano, LCSW, manager of admissions at Seton Shoal Creek Hospital in Austin, TX.

Discharge Planning Advisor: 'One-stop connection' gets technology boost

A major software upgrade has dramatically increased the ability of a New Jersey health system's behavioral health call center to serve as a "one-stop connection" for local emergency departments, psychiatric emergency screening services, and a stand-alone psychiatric hospital, says Dawn Fenske, director of Saint Barnabas Management Services in Toms River, NJ.

Heart failure deaths cut 50% using Six Sigma process

Patient deaths from heart failure were decreased by 50%, readmissions reduced by 12%, and complications reduced by 77%, as a result of a quality improvement initiative at Texas-based Valley Baptist Health System.

'Daily rounding' checklist improves ICU compliance

Using a "daily rounding quality checklist," which takes just a few minutes to complete, the Los Angeles County/University of Southern California Hospital increased compliance with "care bundles" to prevent ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) and other intensive care unit complications.

The Quality - Cost Connection: Don't fail to communicate critical test results

It could be a routine preoperative check X-ray that shows a suspicious-looking lesion or a STAT blood test suggesting a potentially virulent infection. The test results must be communicated to the ordering physician. When critical test results are not received by the physician in a timely manner there can be tragic results.

Patient Safety Alert Supplement

Hospital Peer Review – April 1, 2008

April 1, 2008