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An increasing number of one-day stays and patients who failed to meet admission criteria formed the impetus for a throughput initiative that is reducing inappropriate admissions at Sutter Health in Sacramento, CA, says Barbara Leach, RN, director of case management for Sacramento Yolo Sutter Health.
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Performance measures may be getting glowing reviews from researchers and are an integral part of the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organization (JCAHO)s new survey process, but a recent advisory from the American Hospital Association (AHA) has criticized JCAHOs intentions.
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When the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued its original Patients Rights Conditions of Participation (COPs) for hospitals in 1999, the definition of a grievance was unclear, says Patrice Spath, a Forest Grove, OR-based health care quality specialist.
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Four years after the Joint Commission introduced standardized core performance measures with its 2002 ORYX initiative, quality professionals still are struggling to improve compliance with core measure data collection.
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Drawing on 20 years of quality improvement experience, MPRO, Michigans Health Care Quality Improvement Organization, is bringing together hospitals, home health agencies, and physician practices to come up with solutions to communications barriers between providers, with the ultimate goal of improving the outcomes for the states cardiovascular disease patients.
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The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently released the final Hospital CAHPS (HCAHPS) survey instrument. The HCAHPS survey is the first national attempt to standardize patients satisfaction with care in order to make apples to apples comparisons.
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When a patient care problem or improvement opportunity has been identified, it must be resolved. If the problem is significant, it is important to take action as quickly as possible. Good ideas for resolving the problem are solicited from physicians and staff and the best solutions identified.
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A pharmacist noticed that two patients with the same name were admitted to the hospital on the same day. The pharmacist notified each unit and posted signs in the pharmacy warning staff of the coincidence, and encouraging them to use extra caution to verify that they were giving the correct medicine to the correct patient.
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