N.J. Hospitals Improve Quality, Reduce Costs, Shorten Wait Times in ‘Patient Flow’ Partnership
Reduced wait times and shorter hospital stays for patients. Reduced operating costs and increased revenues for hospitals. Those are among the results of a 15-month collaborative effort by New Jersey hospitals and the Boston-based Institute for Healthcare Optimization.
Minnesota Hospitals Chosen to Further Expand Patient Safety and Quality Efforts
The Minnesota Hospital Association (MHA) Hospital Engagement Network (HEN) has been awarded $4.5 million from the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to further expand its work to enhance patient safety. The award was effective Sept. 26, 2013.
Reality Check: The Beryl Institute Revisits the State of the Patient Experience
The Beryl Institute has published a major study of work being done in U.S. hospitals to improve the patient experience. Beryl performed a similar study in 2011, and compares the results from the earlier study to this year’s survey in The State of Patient Experience in American Hospitals 2013: Positive Trends and Opportunities for the Future.
Accountability of Care is the Center of Healthy Reform
Healthcare reform is taking center stage as the industry opens its eyes to a myriad of factors that are re-defining the healthcare landscape. There is an increased focus on patient-centric services and satisfaction that translate beyond the delivery of quality care to also enable the provision of affordable and timely care to achieve better health outcomes. The entire industry is undergoing a transformation triggered by the need to establish accountable care practices to help overcome specific issues that impede the industry’s improvement.
Prevention of Needlestick Injuries Can Save U.S Healthcare System More than $1 Billion a Year
Needlestick and sharps injuries affect more than half a million healthcare personnel every year, creating over $1 billion in preventable healthcare costs every year and an immeasurable emotional toll on millions of healthcare personnel, according to a Safe in Common review of U.S. healthcare industry statistics.
Beyond Data: How Analytics and Culture Change Management Combine to Drive Performance Improvement
Healthcare organizations are virtually swimming in data. From compulsory reporting for CMS and other regulatory bodies to self-directed performance improvement initiatives, most hospitals and healthcare delivery organizations capture data for hundreds of metrics and measures. The quantity and complexity of these measures continues to grow.
Four Hospitals Honored for Quality Improvement, Safety
Four U.S. hospitals are being recognized for their leadership and innovation in quality improvement and safety. The 2013 American Hospital Association-McKesson Quest for Quality Prize will be awarded to Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, which will receive $75,000.
Seattle Children’s Hospital Uses Big Data to Improve Diagnosis and Patient Care
Seattle Children’s Hospital is using IBM Big Data technology to improve treatment of its young patients. With over 350,000 patient visits annually and thousands of data points associated with each patient, Seattle Children’s Hospital can run queries on patient data in seconds, rather than minutes, to provide quicker, more effective care and diagnosis.
Achieving the Potential of Healthcare Performance Measures
This report provides an overview of performance measurement in U.S. health care, and includes policy recommendations aimed at improving the performance measurement enterprise.
Specifically, they recommend how to develop better measures; when and how to use measures; and how to ensure the validity and comparability of publicly-reported performance measure data.
Quality Improvement Educational Initiative Proves to be a Model Program for Surgical Residents
Researchers at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, have developed a novel graduate medical education initiative that enables surgical residents to hone their skills in quality improvement (QI). Surgical trainees who completed the year-long educational program found the QI training to be beneficial, and more importantly, believe it put them in a position to lead QI initiatives in the future. The report appears in the June issue of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons.