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Something that puzzles Patti Thrailkill, who spent more than 20 years working with the federal disability program, is why there isn't more energy at hospitals spent trying to get disability benefits for patients.
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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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Infection control professionals at the Cleveland VA Medical Center took several additional prevention measures because they suspected asymptomatic Clostridium difficile carriers were fueling an outbreak in their long-term care facility.
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Investigators have found that asymptomatic carriers of Clostridium difficile "have the potential to contribute significantly to disease transmission," including causing infections with the highly toxigenic strain that has plagued hospitals with severe outbreaks.
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Investigators are trying to verify or refute the lingering suspicion that an undefined level of Clostridium difficile is being transmitted to humans through meat in the food supply.
