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In findings that at first glance may seem puzzling, the 2007 ED Pulse Report patient satisfaction survey by Press Ganey Associates indicated that while ED wait times continue to increase, so does patient satisfaction.
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Once a patient makes the decision to seek emergency care, their "internal clock" starts, asserts Alex Rosenau, DO, FACEP vice chair, department of emergency medicine, at Lehigh Valley Hospital and Health Network, Allentown, PA.
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To enable senior leaders to gain knowledge about quality and safety performance within the organization the quality department should create a concise, yet complete, measurement report.
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The new medical staff and upcoming leadership standards from The Joint Commission and the recent Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ruling stopping reimbursement for certain preventable conditions have something in common: All are strong incentives to involve physicians in quality initiatives.
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The Joint Commission's new 2007 medical staff standards require you to collect performance data for all practitioners. For most practitioners, this will be a simple and straightforward matter, but for others, it could prove to be a daunting challenge.
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When it comes to implementation of rapid response teams, organizations fall into three distinct groups, says Kathy Duncan, RN, the Institute for Healthcare Improvement's faculty expert for the rapid response intervention.
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Hospital-based quality professionals have a golden opportunity to step into new leadership roles, due in large part to the growing impact of pay for performance.
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The Joint Commission's 2007 report "Improving America's Hospitals: A Report on Quality and Safety" had some good news hospitals are achieving 90% or better on about half the quality measures tracked since 2002.
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Effective patient discharge is a priority area for all hospitals. Yet many patients who returned home after their hospital stay believe their discharge was inadequate in terms of the information they received and the information sought about their need for assistance at home.
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An operation done on the wrong body part is an obvious red flag calling for the need to closely examine a practitioner's competence. But what about a verbal complaint from a nurse who works closely with that physician? Or what if length of stay is increasing for that physician, but only slightly?
