Exploring Post-Discharge Spaces Designed to Eliminate Gaps in Care
At the end of a hospital stay, many patients find themselves overwhelmed by their experience as well as the often lengthy care directions they’ve been given. Others might find themselves pushed into another care place, one that may not have the resources or focus to holistically address their problems. Too often patients find themselves released from the hospital, only to wind up back in that hospital bed within the 30-day readmission window—a metric closely watched by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and hospitals everywhere.
Surveillance Monitoring: Current Challenges and Solutions
Failing to recognize early signs that a patient is deteriorating and respond with effective treatment—“failure to rescue”—has long been a challenge for hospitals, particularly among low-risk patients in low-acuity care delivery areas. Failure to rescue often affects postsurgical patients on opioids, though it is not limited to this narrow patient population. To reduce its occurrence, hospitals have primarily adopted rapid response teams.
Victim Advocate Serves the Community at Cleveland Clinic
Ashley Withrow, MSSA, LISW-S, is a member of the Cleveland Clinic’s police department and has served the community as a victim advocate since February 2014. In that role, Withrow, supports anyone connected to the Clinic who has experienced violence, providing information and referrals in addition to emotional support.
Savviest ACOs Leverage Health Plan Resources
More than ever before, physicians and health plans have compelling reasons to work together to achieve the Triple Aim, which means improving consumers’ health outcomes, their experience of care, and the costs associated with that care. In the years since the Affordable Care Act was enacted, value-based care models that more closely align providers and health plans with the shared goals of improving healthcare quality and cost have gained traction.
‘Customer Ownership’ at the Forefront in Alaska
Healthcare organizations strive to improve the quality of care for patients; however, finding methods to do this without increasing costs can be a challenge. Southcentral Foundation (SCF), a nonprofit healthcare organization in Alaska, has found engaging and partnering with patients on their healthcare journey can lead to better care and outcomes without incurring higher costs and actually decreases overall costs.
Digital Documentation: More or Less?
Remember the blue book? Starting as early as junior high school, teachers would hand out that pale blue 8” x 8” booklet, giving each student 50 minutes to handwrite everything they knew about a particular subject. Urban legend suggested teachers issued grades based on the number of pages filled rather than the contents of the illegible scribble. Because handwriting did not allow for cutting and pasting, there was no verbatim insertion of multiple Wikipedia pages to “enhance” a test-taker’s spontaneous brilliance. The essay length was determined by the knowledge of the student and the quickness of the pen.
Paralyzed by Mistakes: Reassess the Safety of Neuromuscular Blockers in Your Facility
Problem: Neuromuscular blocking agents are high-alert medications because of their well-documented history of causing catastrophic injuries or death when used in error. These drugs are used during tracheal intubation, during surgery of intubated patients, and to facilitate mechanical ventilation of critically ill patients.
Using a Screening Program to Improve Suicide Prevention
Suicides were the third most common sentinel event of 2015, with 95 reported cases in 2015’s Sentinel Event Statistics. The total number of patient suicides reported to The Joint Commission is now up to 1,184 since the start of the decade.