Safety First

Joint Commission Gains Role in Collecting Quality Data

In a world where a consumer can collect encyclopedic knowledge about a car or home electronics purchase, the need for useable, measureable quality data grows every day, particularly in health care.

More organizations are focusing on quality data collection, said Stephanie Iorio, RN, CPHQ, CPC, during her presentation "The Impact of Quality Data on the External Environment" during September's National Association for Healthcare Quality national conference in Grapevine, TX.

Read more here.

From HealthLeaders Media '09: Never-ending Quality Improvement

In the ideal hospital of the future, quality improvement will be hardwired into the culture of the organization. Outcomes data will not only drive macro-level hospital changes, but also individual physician-patient interactions. Quality will extend beyond hospital walls into patient communities and include preventive health improvement and management, rather than only reactive treatment.

Read more here.

Lack of Physician Participation is Hindering Quality Efforts

Time constraints, financial pressures, and a waning sense of obligation to hospitals are hindering physician participation in hospital quality improvement efforts, according to a study by the Center for Studying Health System Change.

Read more here.

IQH Continues Efforts in Drug Safety Project

Lowering the statistic that shows Mississippi as number one in prescribing potentially inappropriate medications for senior citizens is a primary goal of IQH’s patient safety drug project. “Healthcare providers are being encouraged to stop and think about whether they may be prescribing a potentially inappropriate medication for an elderly patient,” said Dr. Jennifer Gholson, chief medical officer. She noted that providers as well as consumers and caregivers should be aware that the aging process brings on changes that may cause drugs to have more side effects than in the past. Patients should talk with their doctors about the drugs they are currently taking, she emphasized.

“It’s important for patients or their caregivers to keep a list of all their medicines and supplements,” she stated. “This is particularly true if a person is taking several medicines, seeing more than one physician, or has certain health conditions.” Sarah Miller, RN, MSN, is the drug safety project leader: smiller@msqio.sdps.org.

Dr. Dale Bratzler to Speak at Oct. 2 Biloxi Presentation

Improving Quality Outcomes: Core Measures and Pay-for-Performance will be presented at an Oct. 2 event in Biloxi. Singing River Health System Department of CME and IQH are collaborative partners in the workshop that will be highlighted by featured speaker Dale Bratzler, DO, MPH, chief executive officer of the Oklahoma Foundation for Medical Quality, the state’s Quality Improvement Organization. He also serves as medical director of the Hospital Interventions Quality Improvement Organization Support Center and the Hospital Quality of Care Measures Special Study at the Oklahoma Foundation for Medical Quality.

Dr. Bratzler’s topics will cover accountability in healthcare; a care measures overview; and the Surgical Care Improvement Project (SCIP).

Dr. Bratzler provides clinical and technical support for local and national quality improvement initiatives including the Medicare National Pneumonia project and the National Surgical Care Improvement Project. A past president of the American Health Quality Association, he was recently appointed by the Secretary of Health and Human Services to the National Advisory Council for the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

He received the Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine degree at the University of Health Sciences College of Osteopathic Medicine in Kansas City, Mo., and his Master of Public Health degree from the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center College of Public Health. Board certified in internal medicine, he is an adjunct associate professor of health administration and policy at the University of Oklahoma College of Public Health. He has published numerous articles on healthcare quality, particularly related to improving care for pneumonia, increasing vaccination rates, and reducing surgical complications.

Jennifer Gholson, MD, IQH’s chief medical officer, will be the lunch speaker, presenting “What Does It Take to Change Your Practice?” A family medicine physician, Dr. Gholson is a graduate of Tulane University School of Medicine. She has the Bachelor of Science degree in biology with honors in art history from Millsaps College. Her postgraduate work included a surgery internship at East Tennessee State University Department of Surgery and a family medicine residency at East Tennessee State University Department of Family Medicine.

The workshop begins with registration at 8 a.m. Oct. 2 at the Hard Rock Hotel in Biloxi. More information is available by contacting Gloria King, M.Ed., 228-809-5118 or gloria.king@mysrhs.com.

National Quality Forum endorses set of measure for managing medications

The National Quality Forum (NQF) has endorsed a set of 18 measures to better manage over-the-counter and prescription medications and improve the safety of using such medications. The standards focus on helping patients improve their adherence to prescription regimens. Specifically, patients with certain conditions, such as diabetes, asthma, coronary artery disease, kidney disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and schizophrenia, are more likely to be involved in a preventable adverse drug event due to incorrectly taking medication.

Read more here.

[ via Patient Safety Monitor blog ]

Patient Safety First Campaign Focuses Staff, Patients on Common Goal

Keeping the many new patient safety topics and initiatives fresh in the minds of frontline caregivers can be a challenge. To make sure staff members were thinking about a new aspect of safe patient care, Abington (PA) Memorial Hospital started "Patient Safety First."

Read more here.

AHRQ seeks comments on PSO data specifications

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality is accepting comments online through Dec. 31 regarding the common formats that acute-care hospitals will use to collect and report patient safety data to patient safety organizations. The agency plans to develop additional versions of the data specifications and requirements for other health care settings.

[ via AHA News Now ]

IHI launches Improvement Map Online Tool

The Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) has launched the online component of its Improvement Map, which was announced at the December 2008 National Forum.

Learn more here.

A Q&A with Carolyn Clancy

In this two-part podcast, the director of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality describes how the health care industry can continue to improve quality of care and patient safety.