Strategic Quality Improvement Imperative: Population Health Management
Despite spending more on healthcare than any nation, the U.S. health system ranks last or next to last on high performance dimensions when compared to health systems of six other developed nations — Australia, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand and the United Kingdom (Davis et al., 2010).
Collaboration Focuses on Clinical Quality, Access and Affordable Care
Arcadia Solutions and Boston Children’s Hospital Unveil New Version of Flagship ICU Analytics Product: T3
Medical Specialty Societies Identify 90 Tests and Treatments to Question
Seventeen leading medical specialty societies have identified specific tests, procedures or medication therapies they say are commonly ordered, but which are not always necessary—and could cause undue harm. To date, more than 130 tests and procedures to question have been released as part of the ABIM Foundation’s Choosing Wisely® campaign, which aims to spark conversations between patients and physicians about what care is really necessary.
EMPSF: The Role of Nurse Leaders in Quality and Patient Safety
EMPSF
The Role of Nurse Leaders in Quality and Patient Safety
In October 2010, The Institute of Medicine (IOM) released The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health. This report was the result of a 2-year initiative by The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) and the IOM, designed to respond to the need to assess and transform the nursing profession. The report outlines four key messages:
Costs of Care Announces Winning Essays: Providing High Value Care
Patients and their caregivers are uniquely positioned to recognize inefficiency in the healthcare system but are seldom empowered with information they need to reduce harmful spending. With the help of New England Journal of Medicine Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Drazen, former United States Secretary of Health and Human Services Donna Shalala, former White House advisor and bioethicist Zeke Emanuel, and New York Times columnist and surgeon Pauline Chen, Costs of Care (www.CostsOfCare.org) launched an innovative essay contest this fall aimed at elucidating both the challenges and opportunities to save patients’ money with routine, cost- conscious medical decisions.
Is Incremental Change Enough?
Nothing has changed; but in health care, everything has changed. — Former Senate Majority Leader William Frist, MD
Though he did not attend the Institute for Healthcare Improvement’s (IHI’s) National Forum last week in Orlando, Senator Frist’s words served as its chorus. Frist’s observation came during a meeting hosted by IHI in Washington, DC, two days after the national election in November. The meeting, titled “Out of the Blocks,” was scheduled to assess the effect of the election—however it turned out—on the Affordable Care Act and, therefore, also on the U.S. healthcare industry.
McKesson to Acquire MedVentive, Support “Better Health 2020”
McKesson will enter into a definitive agreement to acquire MedVentive, a leading provider of population and risk management tools that drive transparency in healthcare cost and quality. MedVentive’s solutions will augment McKesson’s capabilities and experience to support providers as they become clinically integrated, engage physicians and patients to reduce costs, and transition to risk-bearing models such as accountable care.