IHI Releases Framework for Board Governance of Health System Quality
The framework and tool are designed to help the approximately 80,000 health system trustees in the U.S. navigate the complex world of overseeing quality.
A Novel Approach to Hospital Efficiency
While recognizing the value of many traditional utilization management processes, including labor productivity, staffing ratios, bed type assignments, throughput initiatives, and supply chain management, the team’s goal was to find new opportunities for improved resource management in bedside care delivery.
Guided Reflection: A Strategy to Reduce Patient Falls and Fall-Related Injuries
Our center, the 206-bed Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, was still experiencing falls despite having a comprehensive fall prevention program in place. Prior to implementing the AHRQ (2013) fall prevention toolkit the same year of the toolkit’s release, we recorded 160 patient falls. After our nursing division implemented the toolkit, we recorded 143 patient falls.
Could Legally Mandated Racial Bias Training Reduce Maternal Mortality Rates for Black Women?
A 2016 analysis of data published in Obstetrics & Gynecology showed a dramatic worsening in U.S. maternal mortality rates, increasing from 18.8 per 100,000 live births in 2000 to 23.8 in 2014. The researchers pointed out that this increase of nearly 27% took place in the United States while global rates fell by a third around that same time period. The data becomes even more pronounced when examining maternal mortality rates for black women.
Report Finds Radiologists to Blame for Missed Diagnoses
The Red Signal Radiology Report reviews five years of Coverys’ closed claims to identify major risk factors, illuminate warning signals and safety vulnerabilities within radiology practices, and provide evidence-based recommendations to help radiologists proactively avoid patient harm.
Is Your Hospital Discharge Planning Failing Patients?
An estimated one in five hospitalized patients are discharged to post-acute care settings such as skilled nursing facilities or long-term care hospitals.
Nurse Stressors: It’s Not Just Patient Volume and Acuity
Researchers at The Ohio State University found that a nurse’s “subjective workload”—which could include everything from the mental pressures of the job to relentless time constraints—affects her or his ability to provide optimal care, no matter how many patients they’re attending.
CMS Announces Opportunities to Expand Mental Health Treatment
CMS reached out to state Medicaid directors to outline existing and new opportunities, including a new chance for states to receive authority to pay for short-term residential treatment services in an institution for mental disease for these patients.
CMS Extends Time to Finalize Discharge Planning Proposal
CMS took the unusual step on October 30 of announcing a year’s time extension to publish the final rule. The extension runs through November 3, 2019.
Tapping Patient Engagement to Reduce Diagnostic Errors
The research features an examination of 184 narratives from patients or family members about diagnostic errors collected in a new database maintained by the Empowered Patient Coalition.