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News: A woman presented at a hospital emergency department with complaints of headaches, blurry vision, and shortness of breath. Her work-up included a CT scan of her head, chest X-rays, and routine blood tests.
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It was a marriage of sorts, between two departments credentialing and quality improvement. Two departments that hadn't known each other well before. Two departments that came together for a common goal.
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The director of quality and risk management at Mendocino Coast Hospital in Fort Bragg, CA, Susan Bivins, RN, wasn't sure The Joint Commission was going to show up for the hospital's survey.
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In 2007, Premier Inc. began its Quest program, enlisting hospitals to collaborate and evaluate quality, efficiency, safety, and transparency with oversight from the Institute for Healthcare Improvement.
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While the RAC audits could mean significant financial losses for your hospital, a fraud or abuse lawsuit could cost you more. A lot more, says Cheryl Wagonhurst, partner with Folley & Lardner LLP. Some of the "hottest" issues right now that you should be looking at are:
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Replacing the core measure set for pregnancy and related conditions, which comprised three measures, The Joint Commission has introduced a core measure set on perinatal care, with data collection beginning with April 1 discharges.
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With the ever-growing focus on transparency, hospitals are demanding more from quality improvement professionals. When Paul L. Green, RN, MS, CPHQ, started his career in health care, QI professionals ran data and filed them away.
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"We're all glad it's pretty much over," Margaret VanAmringe, MHS, The Joint Commission's vice president for public policy and government relations, says with a laugh.
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Preventing patient falls is a constant struggle for hospitals. And as Medicare has cut reimbursement for falls as a "never event" and patients are getting increasingly older and sicker, it will continue to be a challenge.
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When a dedicated nurse and a quality improvement consultant come together, beautiful things can happen. It starts with an idea, a problem that begs for a solution, and then the work on finding the answers begins.
