HealthCare Benchmarks and Quality Improvement articles from September 2002

HealthCare Benchmarks and Quality Improvement archives from September 2002

Enhance pursuit of excellence by integrating ISO 9000, Baldrige: National Baldrige winners often use ISO as platform.
September 1, 2002... Health care quality professionals have, of late, modeled outstanding companies in other industries in their ongoing pursuit of excellence, adopting vehicles such as Six Sigma and ISO 9000. The next step, some observers say, is to integrate ISO...

Pain management standards: find out if your facility is up to speed: don't run the risk of losing your accreditation.
September 1, 2002... The first obstacle to overcome in developing a pain management strategy is the misconception that effective pain management is not a problem within your facility or does not need to be a high priority. Health care organizations constantly face...

ED diversions reduced by tight monitoring: borrowed processes allow real-time reaction.(emergency department)
September 1, 2002... Using a combination of techniques that benchmark best practices from other industries, Roger Resar, MD, pulmonologist and change agent at the Luther Midelfort-Mayo Health System in Eau Claire, WI, has gained tighter control on monitoring...

Consortium approach gets results in prostate cancer: peer review, patient advocates highlight program.
September 1, 2002... An innovative approach to treating prostate cancer in Buffalo, NY, has not only won national recognition but also benefited patients through peer reviews of diagnoses, enhanced entree into clinical studies, improved odds of survival, and...

Study links nursing shortage, poor quality: Harvard study shows direct health impact.
September 1, 2002... In the most comprehensive look at the subject to date, a study by the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, and Vanderbilt University's School of Nursing in Nashville, TN, has shown that the size and mix of nurse staffing at U.S. hospitals...