Hospital Peer Review – March 1, 2006
March 1, 2006
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Does your organization have a ‘culture of safety?’ Here’s how to find out
Would you like some compelling evidence to present to administrators about a chronic safety problem? Do you want a foolproof way to achieve staff buy-in when a new patient safety initiative is implemented? How about finding out what staff really think about reporting safety concerns? -
Collaborative cuts ICU infection rate in half
A 50% decrease in central-line infections and an increase in compliance with evidence-based practices from 30% to 95%. These are the dramatic results achieved by 10 hospitals participating in the two-year Greater Cincinnati Patient Safety ICU [Intensive Care Unit] Collaborative. -
Patient Satisfaction Planner: Tiered structure helps ED improve flow, satisfaction
Between 2001 and 2005, average length of stay in the ED at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago has dropped from 85 minutes to 45 minutes. Throughput has fallen from 308 minutes to 230 minutes during the same period. In addition, patient satisfaction scores (Press Ganey Associates, South Bend, IN) have increased from 74.6% to 84%. -
Patient Satisfaction Planner: Stroke program wins first Codman award for DM
The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations has named Swedish Medical Center in Seattle 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. -
Patient Satisfaction Planner: Nurse liaison must communicate well
The staff in the pre-op area see the nurse liaisons interaction with patients and families as having a calming effect on the patient and family members, especially when there are delays, and [post-anesthesia care unit] nurses are relieved that the family is being taken care of so they can concentrate solely on the patients needs, explains Maureen Spangler, RN, CNOR, director of perioperative services at Lexington Medical Center in West Columbia, SC. -
Patient Satisfaction Planner: Medicaid strategies eyed in Pew report
A recent report by the Pew Center on the States (www.pewcenteronthestates.org) examines state Medicaid reforms being tested to reduce program spending. -
Patient Satisfaction Planner: RWJF report outlines health coverage plans
The annual "State of the States" report, summarizing strategies states are implementing or considering to expand health coverage, has been released by State Coverage Initiatives, a program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. -
Patient Satisfaction Planner: AHRQ: Spending on trauma surpasses heart disease
U.S. spending to treat trauma-related disorders nearly doubled between 1996 and 2003... -
Do your disaster drills use a CQI approach?
After your disaster drills, do you identify areas that need improvement, and do you take steps to address these? Thats what JCAHO surveyors will want to know, with a revised standard effective July 1, 2006, requiring health care organizations to improve the planning and evaluation of emergency management drills. -
The Quality - Cost Connection: Worst practices in patient satisfaction measurement
There appears to be an endless search for the ideal measurement instruments and techniques for evaluating patient satisfaction. Researchers and practitioners now have more than a decade of know-how in determining whether a patient is satisfied with his or her health care experience. -
SIP measures now available to public
Surgical infection prevention (SIP) performance measure sets are now available on the Joint Commissions Quality Check web site (www.qualitycheck.org). The evidence-based measures assess the overall use of antibiotics for surgical infection prevention.