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When a physician and patient disagree about medical testing and treatment, in most circumstances the patient has the right to refuse further care, even if that refusal may result in the patient's death.
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Quality improvement professionals have long known of the difficulties involved in discharge communications between hospital-based physicians and primary care physicians, but in the words of one observer, "This is the first time the problem has been quantified."
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When it comes to quality assurance in the customer service arena, those patient satisfaction surveys that have become ubiquitous in health care may not be providing accurate feedback, suggests Michael Friedberg, FACHE, CHAM, a manager with Besler Consulting in Princeton, NJ.
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This year, the Leapfrog Hospital Quality and Safety Survey will include the types of questions asked by other national initiatives such as The Joint Commission, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid, and the Institute for Healthcare Improvement's 100,000 Lives campaign, says to the Washington, DC-based organization.
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Patients are being put at risk because important health care information is communicated in medical jargon that exceeds their literary skills, according to a new white paper from The Joint Commission.
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The general public already can find out what percentile your organization scored in when it comes to quality measures for conditions such as acute myocardial infarction or pneumonia.
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Better teamwork. It sounds like a simple strategy, but this goal has proved surprisingly elusive for many health care organizations.
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The greater amount of top leadership involvement in a root cause analysis (RCA), the greater the likelihood of significant patient safety improvements. Senior leaders don't need to be appointed to RCA teams but some level of leadership oversight and intervention is important throughout the life of the investigation.
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The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) is developing a survey instrument to measure how effectively hospitals address patients' health literacy needs.
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Has your organization ever conducted a "Code Adam" drill, which simulates how staff would respond if there were an attempt to abduct a baby from the obstetrics ward during a fire drill?
