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More than one-third of American medical students are not required to study medical ethics, according to survey results compiled by the American Medical Student Association (AMSA), the largest independent medical student organization in the country.
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One thing quality professionals can agree on is that in health care today, every dollar counts. Thats why pay-for-performance programs potentially can have a dramatic impact on your organization by getting the attention of hospital administrators and opening the floodgates to needed quality resources.
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Its a balancing act for most organizations weighing the need for error disclosure, which may lead to system changes that prevent harm to future patients, against the threat of lawsuits.
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An unusual collaboration among three competing California hospitals is providing much-needed post-discharge care for homeless people. It is linking those individuals to ongoing medical benefits while freeing up hospital beds for more acute patients.
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One of the biggest discharge planning challenges at Sutter General Hospital in Sacramento, CA, involves patients who need dialysis after they come into the hospital, says Kate Tenney, RN, manager of case management.
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Increased public scrutiny of hospital performance on surgical infection prevention measures will continue, quality leaders predict. From the point of view of quality managers, this is a wonderful thing, says Terry Hill, MD, medical director for quality improvement at San Francisco-based Lumetra.
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During an April 2005 survey at Fort Sanders Sevier Medical Center in Sevierville, TN, JCAHO surveyors used the Survey Activity Guide (SAG) as their own guide for every system tracer they did, reports Nancy Van Voorhis, RN, CPHQ, manager of quality and clinical care. As we sat down at the system tracer sessions, the surveyors would pull out their SAG section on that system tracer. So my best advice is to use the Survey Activity Guide for your prep tool. We did, and we did fine.
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Measuring the effectiveness of actions intended to improve patient care is an important element of performance improvement. Effectiveness evaluation determines whether an intervention has had the intended effect.
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If your length of stay is above your expected target and your denial rate is rising, you might need to consider redesigning your case management department, suggests Toni Cesta, PhD, RN, FAAN, vice president for administration at North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System in Great Neck, NY.
