Hospital Peer Review
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Reduce Clinical Variation to Improve Quality, Resource Use
Clinical variation is the bane of many healthcare leaders, including quality leaders who realize it’s not acceptable to have better processes and outcomes in some areas but not in others. Standardizing clinical resources and processes can significantly improve quality while also reducing costs and resource use.
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Geriatric-Friendly EDs Improve Quality, Outcomes and Satisfaction
Hospitals are finding that EDs designated specifically for geriatric patients can improve quality of care and patient satisfaction for an aging population, but it also is possible to make existing EDs more geriatric-friendly and reap the same benefits.
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Program Focuses Nursing on Patient Care Transitions
A Massachusetts program has developed a number of resources for improving transition of care that are now available for healthcare facilities to use at no cost.
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Most Common Problems in TJC Surveys
With The Joint Commission changing its scoring system in 2017, it may be difficult for hospital quality leaders to anticipate what could go wrong on a survey. Experience will still yield some clues, but the first surveys may provide some insight into what hospitals should expect.
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AHA/HRET QI Project Cuts HACS 40%, Readmissions 20%
Hospitals are continuing to improve patient care, per results from the second round of the American Hospital Association/Health Research & Educational Trust (HRET) Hospital Engagement Network (HEN), part of the CMS’ Partnership for Patients initiative.
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Shorter Data Interval Gives Better Readmission Picture
The standard for studying readmissions, and what they say about hospital quality, has long been 30 days. The 30-day window is used by the federal government to penalize hospitals believed to provide lower-quality care because patients return to the hospital following discharge, but recent research suggests that window should be shortened.
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Are Lengthier Interviews on Readmission Worth the Time?
Some hospitals are implementing more in-depth patient interviews on readmission, seeking to collect more and better data that can help identify quality issues that might be addressed. But these interviews are time- and resource-intensive, so do the results justify the investment?
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Hospital Uses Real-Time Interviews for Better Data
When a quality improvement committee at Regions Hospital in St. Paul, MN, sought to reduce readmissions, the members realized that they did not have sufficient data to identify the reasons patients returned. Forty percent of their readmission records indicated “other” as the reason, rather than the possible causes listed.
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Reduce Readmissions with Better Data Analysis
Readmissions can never be low enough, so hospitals are constantly looking for better ways to reduce them. Some are finding that success depends on collecting good data, because you can’t reduce readmissions if you don’t know what’s bringing people back to your door.
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Nearly All Wrong-Patient Errors Preventable
Most, and possibly all wrong-patient errors are preventable, according to a recent report from ECRI Institute PSO in Plymouth Meeting, PA.