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It is well known that healthcare organizations have access to a vast amount of data, and that a lot is unused and more is of little use. But what can be done about it? A June workshop at the Institute of Medicine (IOM) called Counting What Counts came to some conclusions and may mark the start of a new initiative to streamline data collection and make better use of what is collected.
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If you read it in a peer reviewed journal, it must be right right? And if there is an evidence-based practice, then the evidence must be stellar. Not so fast, says Lisa Spruce, DNP, RN, ACNS, ACNP, ANP, CNOR, director of evidence-based perioperative practice at the Association of periOPerative Registered Nurses (AORN) in Denver. Spruce is a big advocate of healthcare stakeholders becoming critical readers and understanding exactly what kind of data makes for good evidence. Doing so can make anyone better at determining what practices to mimic or adapt to local needs, and what can just be ignored.
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Electronic health records (EHRs) are supposed to make your life easier everything at hand, collected automatically. But thats not always the reality, and that fact is highlighted in a new report from the American Hospital Association (AHA) on how well hospitals are using EHRs to report on clinical quality measures.
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The regular collection and sharing of data with stakeholders to find and fix problems goes by many names the Virginia Mason Production System, Toyota Management System, Lean, Six Sigma, Quality Improvement Circles. All are based on the notion that to make things better, you need to look at data often and make changes quickly based on what you see. It is an idea that is gaining traction in healthcare as more peer reviewed studies showcase its potential for success.
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You can get hard numbers about things like infection rates and whether a heart attack patient gets aspirin within a specified time period in the emergency department. But can how a patient feels tell you anything important about quality? And can you put a number on something as fuzzy as a feeling?
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AHRQ awards measures clearinghouse contract.
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Just about everyone agrees that alarm management is a big issue in healthcare.
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If you have tried looking for specific information on the National Quality Forum (NQF) website and been flummoxed by too many or too few query responses, you might want to check out the new Field Guide to NQF Resources.
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Checklists are often touted as the potential cure for the ill that is patient harm. If it works for the aerospace industry, why can't it work for healthcare? Indeed, there is ample evidence that some checklists can make a big difference in patient safety.
