Team-Based Learning and Student-Run Clinic Support Interdisciplinary Education

By Nazanin Kuseh Kalani Yazd The University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus approaches interprofessional education in a manner that mimics the reality of working on an interprofessional team. To prepare students to work in a field that requires coordination across many different disciplines, the University of Colorado takes advantage of the diversity at its health … Continued

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Medication Management Training Improves CMS Quality Metrics, New Study Finds

Scores improve in hospitalization, readmission and high-risk disease states A new study shows that medication management educational tools can improve key Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) quality measures. Following a seven-month program developed by Prescriber’s Letter drug advisory service, Quality Independent Physicians (QIP) successfully decreased patient hospitalization across all disease states by 26%. … Continued

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Medfusion Launches Mobile App to Simplify Healthcare Records

To provide patients with a single destination for all of their medical records, Medfusion—a patient engagement platform dedicated to facilitating the relationship between doctors and patients—has developed a consumer mobile application called Medfusion Plus.  For decades, if patients wanted access to their medical records, they had to request and pay for a paper copy, which … Continued

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Adverse Events: Recognizing, Reporting, Analyzing

While we must continue to emphasize to all members of the care team that they are the front line to preventing errors, taking a systems or holistic approach will greatly assist in making adverse events rarer. Aiding in the implementation of the latter are many companies that provide incident reporting, analysis, and review systems.

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Health Systems and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Enter Joint Venture to Improve Population Health in New Hampshire

Dartmouth-Hitchcock, Elliot Health System, and Frisbie Memorial Hospital are entering into a joint venture with Harvard Pilgrim Health Care to form a new company that will improve the quality of healthcare in New Hampshire and reduce costs. The entity, called Benevera Health, will improve healthcare coordination by bringing together clinical, financial, and operational data from … Continued

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CMS Extends Funding for Hospital Engagement Networks

On September 25, 2015, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) awarded $110 million to 17 national, regional, or state hospital associations and health system organizations to fund a second round of Hospital Engagement Networks (HEN), which will extend through September 2016. The contracts are part of the Partnership for Patients, a nationwide public-private … Continued

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Update on Implementation of the New ENFit Enteral Connectors

In 1996, the Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) began describing cases of inadvertent intravenous (IV) administration of liquid substances meant for administration via feeding tubes (Using oral syringes, 1996). Of course, incidents had been happening long before that time, putting patients who simultaneously have IV lines and small-bore nasogastric (NG) feeding tubes or percutaneously inserted gastric tubes at risk.

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