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Previously, patients diagnosed with community-acquired pneumonia were to receive antibiotic administration within four hours of presentation. Now, The Joint Commission standards call for antibiotic administration within six hours.
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In the wake of a first-of-its-kind settlement regarding the discharge of a homeless woman by a Kaiser Permanente hospital in Southern California, indications are that the disturbing issues it aims to address are far from unique.
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A two-pronged initiative under way at Sutter Medical Center in Sacramento, CA, aims to provide interim housing for homeless patients who need home support services or assistance with medications as well as reduce the use of the hospital emergency departments (EDs) for primary care among homeless patients.
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Beginning July 2, hospitals must begin a new process of notifying Medicare beneficiaries of their discharge appeal rights.
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At Memorial Hermann Texas Medical Center in Houston, quality professionals are well aware of the importance of getting an outside perspective. "When you are in the midst of the forest, you can't see some of the processes that have become a habit to you," says Angela Lenox, the hospital's peer review manager.
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It's not uncommon for hospitals to receive requirements for improvements (RFIs) after a Joint Commission survey. What is surprising is that in May, Boston-based Massachusetts General Hospital chose to share this information publicly — not just its accreditation status, but its complete survey results.
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Joint Commission standards require the organized medical staff oversee the quality of care, treatment, and services rendered by physicians and other licensed independent practitioners. This includes monitoring the quality of services provided by hospital-based practitioners such as radiologists and pathologists.
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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.
