ABQAURP News October 2023
ABQAURP’s 46th Annual Health Care Quality & Patient Safety Conference was a tremendous success! We are grateful to our attendees and conference partners for a fantastic event. We look forward to seeing you next year!
Study: Telehealth Providers are Failing to Follow Up on Diagnostic Tests
A new study posted in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) by researchers from several notable health systems finds that diagnostic loop closures for colonoscopies, cardiac stress tests, and dermatology referrals were worse for patients after virtual visits than for those patients seeing their doctor in-person.
The Exec: Hospitals Should Embrace Huddles to Boost Reliability
One method for developing high reliability is through daily tiered huddles that involve staff from the frontlines to top executives. Huddles have been in place at the hospital for several years.
Team Up to Tackle Care Redesign
Health systems across the country are turning to a variety of tools and strategies, many of them centered on virtual nursing. While the emphasis is on making the most of the shrinking nursing workforce by reducing stressful workflows, these programs are also increasingly targeting clinical outcomes, ranging from reduced length of stay to improved monitoring and patient engagement.
New Report Looks at the Future of Patient Safety
A new report from Sage Growth Partners LLC, Leading Through Change: Because Patients Deserve More, pulls together insights from industry leaders in hospitals, health systems, non-profit organizations, and technology companies to offer perspectives on patient safety challenges, improvement opportunities, and ways healthcare organizations can advance positive change.
A Roadmap for Cost-Effective Management of Technology Solutions Over the Long Term
Technology investment choices are often challenging because of the lens in which the technology is viewed. Often seen through its end use, the cost of the technology can often overshadow the patient or clinical benefit of the technology. The end-use lens can also cloud how the technology works on a systemic level to improve the patient-family experience and improve patient outcomes.
VCU Study Makes the Case for Pharmacists as Healthcare Providers
As pharmacies struggle to find their footing in a hard economy, a study out of Virginia Commonwealth University makes the argument that pharmacists could save millions of lives and cut healthcare costs significantly if they were allowed to help manage patients with chronic conditions.
New Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grades Find Improved Infection Rates
The Safety Grades assign a letter grade to nearly 3,000 general hospitals on how well they prevent medical errors, accidents, and infections. The latest grades show hospitals reducing HAIs post-pandemic, after significant increases in infection rates during the COVID-19 pandemic. This cycle, nearly 30% of hospitals earned an “A,” 24% earned a “B,” 39% earned a “C,” 7% earned a “D,” and less than 1% earned an “F.”
Share Your Innovative Quality Improvement Ideas
Patient Safety & Quality Healthcare is seeking to spotlight the best healthcare quality improvement case studies. By imparting their in-the-trenches experiences and lessons learned, the chosen case studies will shed light on an issue, practice, or principle that affects stakeholders across the modern medical staff landscape. The deadline to submit nominations is 1/31/24.
The Future of AI in Healthcare: Transparency and Adoption
It’s estimated that AI applications could cut the cost of healthcare in the U.S. by $150 billion in 2026 and help alleviate challenges around staffing shortages. How can we merge the good with the challenging—and is healthcare ready to fully step into the ring with AI?