Hospital Peer Review articles from January 2003

Hospital Peer Review archives from January 2003

ORYX data to play key role in new JCAHO survey process: new process doesn't mean greater data collection burden.(Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations)
January 1, 2003... With the advent of "Shared Visions--New, Pathways," a great many things about the Joint Commission's survey process will change in 2004, but the collection of ORYX data isn't necessarily one of them, says Jarod M. Loeb, PhD, vice president of...

No more surveyors as consultants after 2003: by March, surveyors must indicate intentions.
January 1, 2003... Surveyors from the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations no longer will be allowed to work as survey readiness consultants on the side after Jan. 1, 2004, according to a new rule. Working both sides of the fence created...

Groups join to offer lab accreditation services: also, a new method for custom proficiency testing.
January 1, 2003... Clinical laboratories will have a new method for measuring proficiency and demonstrating that they have met quality standards, under a new accreditation plan announced recently by the American Proficiency Institute (API) in Traverse City, MI;...

Tabletop drills not enough for testing disaster plan: but paper patients can suffice. (Reader Question).
January 1, 2003... Question: Our facility is not an acute-care hospital and does not provide emergency services, so we don't expect to provide care in any community disaster. Do we still have to conduct the emergency preparedness drills that are required by the...

VA's surgical QI program could be available to all: using data to find best practices, problem areas. (Reader Question).(Department of Veterans Affairs' quality initiative)
January 1, 2003... The innovative quality improvement program that greatly improved patient care in the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) health care system could be available to all hospitals within a year, according to program leaders who say the system could...

`Everybody wins' as CM, home health join forces: looming JCAHO survey prompts affiliation. (Discharge Planning Advisor[R]--the update for improving continuity of care).(case management)(Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations)
January 1, 2003... A couple of years ago, Lisa Zerull, RN, MS, the force behind the dramatically successful community nurse case management (CNCM) program at Valley Health System in Winchester, VA, faced a new challenge: She was informed by the Joint Commission...

Solutions needed for prescription drug problem. (Discharge Planning Advisor[R]--the update for improving continuity of care).
January 1, 2003... Making sure patients without an insurance plan for prescription drugs get the medications they need is an increasing challenge, case managers and discharge planners tell Discharge Planning Advisor. Faced with a high-cost list of prescribed...

Final outpatient PPS rule increases spending. (Discharge Planning Advisor[R]--the update for improving continuity of care).(prospective payment system)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... The 1,000-page final outpatient prospective payment system (OPPS) rule, which takes effect this month, provides the congressionally mandated inflationary update and increases overall spending, but still pays hospitals only 83 cents for every...

Patient records linked as part of warning system. (Discharge Planning Advisor[R]--the update for improving continuity of care).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... Twenty million ambulatory care patient records will be connected as part of an early warning system for terrorism-related illness outbreaks. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has awarded $1.2 million to the Harvard...

Improve performance by taking outsiders' view; patients want health care to be `customer-shaped'. (The Quality--Co$t Connection).
January 1, 2003... What is the purpose of your health care organization? To survive and prosper, of course. But the question is, by what method? What you need is everybody working to improve performance, and to do that, you need the means to determine how well...

HHS launches national nursing home QI; launch follows six-state pilot project. (The Quality--Co$t Connection).(Department of Health and Human Services' quality initiative)
January 1, 2003... The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Tommy G. Thompson has launched the national Nursing Home Quality Initiative in an effort to improve the quality of care given to the millions of long-term care residents. The...

CE questions.
January 1, 2003... 1. Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) surveyors must declare their intention either to remain JCAHO surveyors or act as private consultants by what date? A. March 2003 B. June 2003 C. January...

JCAHO accreditation open to critical access hospitals. (The Quality--Co$t Connection).(Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations)
January 1, 2003... The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced recently the granting of deeming authority for critical access hospitals to the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, meaning these hospitals will be...

Guidelines can reduce in-hospital deaths. (The Quality--Co$t Connection).
January 1, 2003... Results from an ongoing national quality improvement initiative examining adherence to American College of Cardiology (ACC) and American Heart Association (AHA) treatment guidelines for chest pain disorders, suggest that using a class of drugs...

Correction.(Correction Notice)
January 1, 2003... The November 2002 issue of Hospital Peer Review stated incorrectly that the national average score for hospitals surveyed by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations is 89. The average score, according to the most...

Construction brings opportunity to boost patient safety; safety-oriented planning should precede building process.
January 1, 2003... Health care facility construction, whether a new building or an expansion of an existing medical center, can present a number of challenges, not the least of which is maintaining quality of care and patient safety if the work involves adding on...

Test interventions for improving safety.(patient safety)
January 1, 2003... Spurred by the Institute of Medicine report and a strong ongoing concern for patient safety, the University of Michigan Health System (UMHS) in Ann Arbor has instituted a far-reaching program called the Patient Safety Enhancement Program...