HealthCare Benchmarks and Quality Improvement articles from November 2004

HealthCare Benchmarks and Quality Improvement archives from November 2004

JCAHO and CMS to align quality measures: PI efforts will benefit: while action generally hailed, some point out potential pitfalls.
November 1, 2004... Key Points * Quality measures cover heart attack, heart failure, pneumonia, and surgical infection prevention. * Using common metrics, data definitions will strengthen comparative data efforts. * Some are concerned that tracking...

MPEGs deliver message in patient safety program: Army medical center program takes award.
November 1, 2004... Key Points * Video clips, each two to three minutes in length, address key goal or issue. * All medical center staff were expected to embrace a culture of safety. * Having commander endorse, introduce series proved an effective...

PASTE plus teams at core of award-winning program: safety initiative identifies four key subprocesses.
November 1, 2004... Key Points * PASTE is a customized version of the Six Sigma DMAIC model. * Best practices should not be taken at face value; you must have your own data to analyze. * Develop a specific measurement plan for each project to...

CA hospitals continue closing: a quality crisis? Some factors may spread across the nation.(California)
November 1, 2004... Key Points * The trend of hospital closings, now at eight, is expected to continue for the rest of the year. * Uninsured patients, unfunded mandates are among key causes behind closings. * Organization estimates more than half of...

WebM&M teaches by example with case studies: site draws quality managers, safety professionals.
November 1, 2004... "One of the great challenges in the whole world of quality and patient safety is learning to take advantage of the richness of clinical cases," says Robert M. Wachter, MD, professor and associate chairman in the department of medicine at the...

AHRQ issues guide for emergency dispensing.(Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... A new planning guide funded by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) is designed to help communities nationwide make sure that all Americans have needed drugs and vaccines in the event of a natural epidemic or bioterrorist...

Study: ACE inhibitor drugs are underused.(angiotensin-converting enzyme)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Almost one-third of heart failure patients face an increased risk of death because they do not receive an angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor, according to a report in the Aug. 3, 2004, rapid-access issue of Circulation: Journal of...

CDC: not enough children receive flu vaccine.(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is warning that more children need to receive the flu vaccine than have received it in the past. According to the CDC, only 4.4% of U.S. children ages 6 months to 23 months were fully...