Patient Safety Awareness Week Resources
Patient Safety Awareness Week (PSAW) is coming to a close, but the focus on patient safety and healthcare quality will continue on as always. Thanks to all the dedicated professionals who work in healthcare organizations to provide top-notch care. We highlighted some of these efforts this week and will continue to do so.
Shorter Primary Care Visits Linked to Risk of Lower-Quality Care, Study Finds
The new research article, which was published by JAMA Health Forum, is based on data collected from more than 8 million primary care visits in 2017. The data features visits with more than 8,000 primary care physicians. The researchers examined three kinds of prescribing decisions: antibiotics for upper respiratory tract infections, coprescribing of opioids and benzodiazepines, and potentially inappropriate prescribing for older adults.
PSQH: The Podcast Episode 74 – The Quality Roadmap for Ambulatory Health Organizations
On episode 74 of PSQH: The Podcast, Julie Lynch, Director of the AAAHC Institute for Quality Improvement, talks about how ambulatory health organizations are faring on AAAHC surveys. This episode is presented as part of Patient Safety Awareness Week and is sponsored by GoJo, the makers of Purell; IAC, Nuance, and Origami Risk.
PSQH Innovation Awards Winner: Ascension St. Mary’s Revamps Processes to Reverse HAI Trend
The fifth annual PSQH Innovation Awards recognize healthcare organizations who overcame patient safety or quality improvement challenges. In this article, we highlight the winning submission selected from Ascension St. Mary’s Hospital in Saginaw, Michigan.
Press Ganey CMO Envisions ‘Healthcare’s Path Forward’
Healthcare organizations faced several challenges going into the pandemic, including the rise of consumerism and adoption of value-based payment models. The pandemic introduced new challenges such as widespread workforce shortages and severe financial problems.
Addressing Preventable Deaths in Maternal Care
The report also noted that the leading underlying cause of death varied by race and ethnicity, with cardiac and coronary conditions the leading cause among non-Hispanic Black patients, mental health among Hispanic and non-Hispanic white patients, and hemorrhage among non-Hispanic Asian patients.
Delivering Better Care in a More Cost-Effective Way With Point-of-Care Ultrasound
Enhanced handheld POCUS devices are simpler and less expensive than traditional ultrasound solutions, so healthcare facilities that start using POCUS will see significant cost savings when deploying the devices. Their simplicity also allows more hospitals to adopt ultrasound and offer it to more patients, which can improve the overall patient experience and health outcomes.
NYP-Westchester Nurses Reduce Tracheostomy-Related Pressure Injuries to Zero for 4 Years
Reducing Tracheostomy Medical Device-Related Pressure Injury: A Quality Improvement Project details how NewYork-Presbyterian Westchester, in Bronxville, achieved the results in its 18-bed adult intensive care unit (ICU), by, in part, integrating MDRPI prevention into the bedside procedure for tracheostomies that used the percutaneous dilation technique (PDT).
Innovation and Strategy as Care Moves Home
The November 2022 report, Person-Centered Innovation – An Update on the Implementation of the CMS Innovation Center’s Strategy, looks at strategic objectives to drive accountable care, advance health equity, support innovation, address affordability, and foster partnerships to drive system transformation—all topics that have been top of mind in the patient safety and quality sphere over the last few years.
New Survey Highlights Future of Interoperability
Health Gorilla, a Health Information Network and interoperability provider, recently released its inaugural 2023 State of Interoperability report in collaboration with Flexpa and the Health Management Academy. This report collects insights from more than 130 executive decision-makers across the healthcare ecosystem, including health systems, EHRs, digital health organizations, and diagnostic labs.