Healthcare Benchmarks and Quality Improvement Archives – December 1, 2004
December 1, 2004
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Flu vaccine shortage creates ethical issues, safety challenges
Even though the flu vaccine shortage has yet to have an impact in terms of an anticipated surge of patients, quality managers and other hospital professionals already are feeling its effects. Tough decisions are being made every day, and they're not always restricted to patient and staff safety issues. -
Longitudinal records enable instant QI changes
A multifaceted system of electronic record keeping has enabled the quality staff at Evanston (IL) Northwestern Healthcare (ENH) to quickly identify and respond to improvement opportunities while also reducing the chances of medication errors. -
Survey a launching pad for wide-ranging improvement
The performance improvement team at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston has used an employee opinion survey as a guidepost to opportunities for improvement. -
Strong collaboration sets QI program apart
What sets one quality improvement program apart from all the others? To hear the staff at El Camino Hospital in Mountain View, CA, tell it, it's the unique relationship between the physicians and nurses. -
ED crisis presents a new set of quality challenges
By its very nature and location, the emergency department (ED) inextricably is bound to the rest of the hospital; what occurs there has profound repercussions throughout the facility. -
News Briefs
Insufficient evidence exists to prove that disease management programs can lower overall health care costs, concluded the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) in an Oct. 13, 2004, press release.