HealthCare Benchmarks and Quality Improvement articles from June 2007

HealthCare Benchmarks and Quality Improvement archives from June 2007

VA Tech disaster response shows value of drills, planning: response nearly flawless, say leaders.
June 1, 2007... Despite the chaos and upheaval of the horrific tragedy that befell Virginia Tech on Monday morning, April 16, 2007, the orderly response from the medical community went pretty much according to plan. At Montgomery Regional Hospital, which...

Counseling is essential following a disaster.(Brief article)
June 1, 2007... The availability of group and individual counseling for hospital staff following two shootings within eight months of each other in Blacksburg, VA, was invaluable, says Mike Hill, RN, the ED director at Montgomery Regional Hospital, which...

PSO: an evolving, critical role in health care quality: reporting structure varies from facility to facility.
June 1, 2007... Whether they are called patient safety officers (as many now are), patient safety managers, or some other title, individuals whose overall responsibility at their facility or health system is minimizing errors and complying with safety...

Panel lays a framework for ethical conduct in QI: determine if project is QI, human research, or both.
June 1, 2007... A wide-ranging group of experts convened by The Hastings Center has put forth some general understandings of quality improvement--what it is, what role it plays in health care, and how ethical conduct can be ensured in QI projects. Their...

Don't have an ICU? You can still have an RRT; smaller facilities look to their ED to fill staffing needs.
June 1, 2007... The "traditional" model of a rapid response team (RRT), as outlined by the Boston-based Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) and employed by a large number of hospitals, is often driven by (and mainly staffed by) the ICU or other staff...

Data reveal 90% of ADEs not administration errors; only 8.6% of events due to wrong drug, wrong dose.
June 1, 2007... While The Joint Commission and other organizations are paying a great deal of attention to safety in drug administration, a new report from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) indicates we may be doing a better job than many...

AHA: IT use in hospitals continues to grow.(American Hospital Association survey)(Survey)(Brief article)
June 1, 2007... According to the American Hospital Association s (AHA) second annual survey of hospital health IT use, hospitals continue to accelerate their use of health information technology, with 68% reporting that electronic health records had been fully...