Patient Experience Key Element in Safety and Quality Improvement Initiatives
Patient experience is a valuable element of addressing patient safety incidents and conducting quality improvement initiatives. After decades of operating with provider-centric care, healthcare organizations are becoming increasingly patient-centric. Evaluating and improving patient experience is a core component of patient-centric care.
Democratizing Healthcare: The Wait Is Over
A growing number of communities have proven that data democratization improves health structures and overcomes barriers to help communities of color respond to the health challenges of COVID-19. The inconsistencies at state level have demonstrated how the pandemic has disproportionately impacted people of color. The spread of the pandemic has been a shared concern for all of the American public as the mortality rate for Black Americans is 2.3 times as high as white Americans.
The Right ID: How Patient Matching Can Support Better Care
Like many health systems developed through mergers and acquisitions, M Health Fairview sported consistent branding across what had previously been the Fairview Health and HealthEast Care systems, but it had a disparate array of back-end medical record systems behind the scenes.
Addressing Inequity
For Maria Hernandez, president and CEO of Impact4Health, an organization that provides training and support for health systems around health equity, physicians may face a unique challenge in addressing the biases that can lead to this uneven treatment.
The Surgicalist Approach: Breathing New Life Into an Ailing Trauma or Acute Care Surgical Program
Many of today’s difficulties stem from the rapidly changing face of healthcare. In part, they result from the remixing and rebalancing of surgical subspecialties. The once omnipresent general surgeon with a broad skill set and diverse patient experience is all but extinct. Additionally, true trauma surgeons are hard to find. Compounding the problem, modern surgeons are seeking a better work-life balance and shunning the added income of on-call hospital shifts in favor of a more predictable and manageable schedule.
Critical Care Nurses’ Mental, Physical Health Connected to Preventable Medical Errors
Nearly two-thirds (60.9%) of the CCNs reported having made medical errors in the past five years, according to the study. Occurrence of medical errors was significantly higher among nurses in worse health than those in the better health categories. For example, 67% of the nurses with higher stress scores versus 56.5% of the nurses with no or little stress reported having made medical errors in the past five years.
Reducing the Incidence of Uncontrolled Hypertension Through Self-Measured Blood Pressure Monitoring
Oklahoma ranks as one of the worst states with regard to hypertension-related mortality. The primary care setting is the perfect venue to examine strategies and employ best practices to reduce rates of hypertension and subsequent disability and death.
Physician Leader: Culture Critical to Achieving Health System Goals
Suzanne Wenderoth, MD, was recently promoted from senior vice president and chief clinical officer of Tower Health Medical Group to executive vice president, CEO of physician enterprise, and interim chief medical officer of Tower Health. The West Reading, Pennsylvania-based health system features seven hospitals and about 14,000 employees.
A Patient-First Approach
A patient-first approach allows physicians, specialty pharmacy, patients, and care coordinators to connect effortlessly, rather than operating independently. This higher level of care continuity strengthens communication, yields rich data for more informed decision-making, and improves the overall patient experience. What’s more, dedicated clinical teams are empowered to seamlessly eliminate treatment gaps for the patient.
Optimizing EHR Interoperability
In this evolving healthcare ecosystem, many now recognize the importance of effective interoperability of electronic health records (EHR) and the ability to improve patient care and safety, enhance patient-centeredness and communication, and advance programs related to education, timeliness, efficiency, and equity.