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If your length of stay is above your expected target and your denial rate is rising, you might need to consider redesigning your case management department, suggests Toni Cesta, PhD, RN, FAAN, vice president for administration at North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System in Great Neck, NY.
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Potential pitfalls involving use of quality software may be far more serious than possible loss of quality data, according to a recent study. Researchers found that a particular brand of computerized physician order entry (CPOE) software meant to reduce medication errors actually introduced errors instead at one hospital.
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A paper published in the Archives of Internal Medicine suggests an apparent conflict between protecting individual patients privacy and improving the quality, safety, and cost of medical care for all patients.
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At a recent five-day unannounced survey at Baptist Hospital of Miami, surveyors werent just looking for compliance with specific standards; they wanted to see evidence of an overall culture of performance improvement and patient safety, says Faith D. Solkoff, RN, BSN, MPA, director of performance improvement.
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What would you think if your computer screen indicated that no measures of success were required for any Joint Commission standards? Would you be relieved or skeptical?
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The contemporary operating environment in health care organizations is challenging. To survive, everyone must be well informed. To lead the organization, the senior executive team needs information on the organizations current state and the direction it is heading.
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As of Jan. 1, 2006, revisions made to the Joint Commissions information management standard IM.6.20 will require hospitals to collect information on the language and communication needs of patients.
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Misleading data that serve only to confuse administrators. Multiple departments collecting the same data without realizing it. Collecting large amounts of data but never addressing the problems they identify.
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Deception has long been a tool of investigators conducting social and behavioral research. Subjects agreeing to a study may not know exactly what it is about, in order to elicit unguarded responses.
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The line between quality improvement (QI) activities, which are intended to improve health care within an institution, and true research, which seeks to contribute knowledge to others outside the institution, has always been blurry.