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Human research protection program staff at the VA Medical Center in Tuscaloosa, AL, knew there was a problem with the IRB's expedited review process.
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Everyone does more work with less time these days. So how can an IRB make new board member training effective without being time demanding? One IRB has found that the answer is to hold brief educational sessions during its board meetings.
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Adverse drug event (ADE) reporting often is inaccurate, has omissions, and sends unnecessary information to IRBs, an expert says.
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A nine-month study at a New York State hospital has shown that a well-planned transitional care program for heart failure patients can result in reduced readmissions, hospitalization costs, mortality rates, and length of stay.
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Hospitals often have nurses call patients after discharge in hopes of improving their satisfaction ratings. A new study shows that there are a couple of very good reasons to provide these calls, but a boost in reported patient satisfaction is not one of them.
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Proposed rules for the creation of accountable care organizations (ACOs) will require participating organizations to provide primary care to 5,000 or more patients and to meet 65 quality standards. Since the new ACOs also will require substantial start-up costs, some experts say it will be both a challenge and an opportunity for hospitals.
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Research has shown that close to one in four Medicare patients transitioned from the hospital to skilled nursing facilities are readmitted to the hospital within 30 days. This is less than ideal, especially in these times when hospitals and other providers have to meet a growing list of federal quality standards.
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Hospital readmission data often show that people who fail to see their primary care physician in a timely manner are more likely than other patients to return to the hospital within 30 days, a hospital performance improvement expert says.
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Some hospitals have been focusing more on care transition issues in anticipation of the advent of accountable care organizations (ACOs) or just because it's a way to improve both quality and efficiency in health care.