In response to an overwhelming community need, Staten Island University Hospital in New York decided to develop a “breast center” approach to the provision of breast health services. Quality improvement is a core element of the hospital’s mission and is integrated into our planning process, so outcome measures were an integral part of this initiative.

This is the last in a series of three articles regarding the potential to improve patient safety through the use of effective information-technology (IT) solutions.

When consumers shop for a new car, the latest electronic gadget, and many other types of products or services, a wealth of comparative information awaits them on newsstands and online.

Today’s doctors and nurses are tethered to all manner of gadgets and devices — telephones, pagers, faxes, overhead pages, white boards, desktop computers, charts — in an attempt to facilitate the movement of information throughout the hospital enterprise.

Management gurus speak reverently of the cliché, “You can’t manage what you can’t measure.” Looking at the disappointing quality outcomes of a healthcare system that spends more per capital than any other country in the world, it is clear there is not a whole lot of measuring going on.