Healthcare Benchmarks and Quality Improvement Archives – March 1, 2006
March 1, 2006
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End-of-life care a balance between customization, standard processes
Quality professionals and the organizations that evaluate them place a great emphasis today on standards core measures, evidence-based practices, and consistent processes. A dynamic seemingly at odds with this emphasis is the fact that patients are individuals, with unique needs and desires about their care. -
Computer system helps nurses in care delivery
A computerized sign-out system at Jacobi Medical Center in Bronx, NY, has improved physician-nurse communication and positively affected the ability of nurses to care for their patients, according to staff surveys following the implementation of the system. -
Program helps to boost co-pay collections
An innovative program at Childrens Hospital of Alabama (Birmingham) has led to an increase in co-pay collections, from about $300,000 to more than $2 million. -
Study: Quality improving at a modest pace
The quality of U.S. health care continued to improve in 2005, according to The 2005 National Healthcare Quality Report from the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). -
Usage of CPOE steadily increasing, Leapfrog says
While hospitals seem to be adopting computerized physician order entry systems (CPOE) at a steady pace, it is not fast enough to satisfy one of the leading proponents of the technology the Washington, DC-based Leapfrog Group. -
CDC issues updated TB prevention guidelines
The Atlanta, GA-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued updated guidelines for preventing the transmission of tuberculosis in health care settings. -
News Briefs
U.S. spending to treat trauma-related disorders nearly doubled between 1996 and 2003 to surpass heart disease as the leading medical expenditure by condition, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality reported.