Hospital Peer Review articles from February 2004

Hospital Peer Review archives from February 2004

Assess the quality of your core measure data: what you find may be surprising: now that data are being made public, you can't afford mistakes.
February 1, 2004... Imagine hearing this as part of a competitor's advertising campaign: At your hospital, fewer pneumonia patients receive antibiotics within recommended time frames. And your facility boasts the highest inpatient mortality rate for heart attacks....

Use tools to improve core measure results.
February 1, 2004... Do you want to improve both core measure results and the consistency of patient care at your hospital? Your No. 1 goal should be to find ways to make it easier for caregivers to make the correct choices, says Steve Osborn, CPHQ, vice president...

Program helps patients who take anticoagulants: patient education helps avoid adverse outcomes.
February 1, 2004... While an elderly man on warfarin was waiting to get blood drawn at his physician's office, he was handed some educational materials about the drug. "The packet included warnings that the shape of the pill may change based on the manufacturer of...

Electronic systems can promote safety, study says: electronic records facilitate error prevention.
February 1, 2004... Are you lobbying for your organization to make a capital investment in information technology systems? A new report from the Washington, DC-based Institute of Medicine (IOM) may give you added ammunition. According to the IOM report Patient...

Applying the principles of process variation: realize improvements in efficiency and outcomes.(The Quality-Co$T Connection)
February 1, 2004... During the 1980s, U.S. manufacturers began to study why the quality of Japanese products was much better than for those made in the United States. The differences related to their adoption of methods derived from the theory of process...

Involve key players to address infection control: hand washing should be across-the-board priority.
February 1, 2004... There is abundant evidence that preventing deadly health care-associated infections is a top priority for the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations. In addition to implementing new infection control standards that...

CE questions.
February 1, 2004... 5. Which is recommended to improve the quality of core measure data? A. At regular intervals, a random sample of your cases should be re-abstracted by an independent reviewer and the results compared. B. Direct caregivers should not be...