Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center among the first-ever awardees in the National Awards Program to Recognize Progress in Eliminating Healthcare-Associated Infections
The US Department of Health and Human Services has named Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center among the first-ever awardees in the National Awards Program to Recognize Progress in Eliminating Healthcare-Associated Infections.
CDC: Hospitals continue progress in preventing infections
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention today announced significant gains in hospitals' efforts to prevent healthcare-associated infections in 2010. These include a 33% reduction in central line-associated bloodstream infections, 18% reduction in healthcare-associated invasive MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus), 10% reduction in surgical-site infections, and 7% reduction in catheter-associated urinary tract infections, according to data submitted to the CDC's National Healthcare Safety Network.
American Heart Association: Improvements in Door-to-Balloon Time in the US - 2005 to 2010
The door-to-balloon (D2B) time (the time it takes for a hospital to treat a heart attack patient after he or she arrives at the hospital) has fallen significantly since the launch of the D2B Alliance campaign in 2006. The biggest improvements were observed in groups that initially had the worst times, including patients over 75 years of age, women, and blacks. Researchers analyzed nationwide hospital data, collected by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, from more than 300,000 patients, from January 1, 2005, to September 30, 2010. The recent progress stems from a nationwide effort between federal agencies, healthcare organizations and doctors to improve heart attack care and outcome by accelerating treatment.
Thomson Reuters Research Identifies Top 10 U.S. Health Systems
Thomson Reuters released its third annual study identifying the top 10 U.S. health systems based on quality of care, efficiency, and patient satisfaction. [Including Cape Cod Healthcare, Hyannis, MA; CareGroup Healthcare System, Boston, MA; and Partners Healthcare, Boston, MA]. Compared with their peers, the Thomson Reuters 10 Top Health Systems saved more lives, caused fewer medical complications, made fewer medical errors, followed recommended standards of care more closely, released patients half a day sooner on average, and scored better on patient satisfaction surveys.
UMass Memorial Offers "Scorecard" To Patients With Diabetes
One of the biggest challenges with managing diabetes is motivating patients to take an appropriately active role in their health. To help meet this challenge, UMass Memorial Medical Center has launched a pilot program to test an innovative diabetes management "scorecard."
Cooley Dickinson Hospital: Better-than-National Infection Rate Drops Further Following UV Room Disinfection
In America's hospitals, approximately one in 20 patients will contract a hospital-acquired infection (HAI). At Cooley Dickinson Hospital last year, one in 129 patients got an HAI.
Now, those better odds of avoiding an infection at Cooley Dickinson have improved even further, as the hospital has documented a groundbreaking 82 percent drop in one type of infection, Clostridium difficile
(C. diff), a nasty germ that can cause diarrhea, sepsis and even death.
Mercy Medical Center, Implements a Program to Decrease Pressure Ulcers
As the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) continue to provide less payment for hospital acquired pressure ulcers, increased demands are placed on nurses to reduce the number of patients who acquire these conditions. As pressure-ulcer incidence rates continue to rise, more hospitals are implementing intervention and prevention programs in order to combat pressure ulcer occurrence and improve patient care.
Lawrence General Hospital: Runner Up: Med/surg unit boosts safety and satisfaction with initiative care
There is always a lot of talk about the power of teamwork and successful teams yet there is little talk of what actually defines a great team. I believe this year's honors for the best nursing team should be bestowed upon the nurses of Russell 4.
MetroWest Medical Center Demystifies Outpatient Satisfaction
For MetroWest Medical Center, a 319-bed regional healthcare system with hospital
campuses and outpatient facilities in the adjacent towns of Framingham and Natick, Mass., seven was just the right number of tactics needed to put its outpatient scores where they belonged - at the top. In fact, throughout fiscal year 2011, MetroWest's outpatient scores have consistently remained above the 96th percentile, and the goal is to bring them even higher. MetroWest's success was featured in this article of partners, a publication of Press Ganey.
Winchester Hospital: A Focus on OutcomesLike all hospitals, Winchester Hospital has its share of preventable harm events and, like all hospitals, it is constantly striving to improve. In 2008, Winchester Hospital experienced 108 preventable harm events in five categories: serious medication errors; surgical site infections; ventilator-associated pneumonia; falls with serious injury; and central line-associated bloodstream infections. At the close of 2010, this number had dropped to four. The goal for 2011 is zero. Winchester's passion for improvement inspired leaders at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) to invite hospital leaders and staff to share these results at an international webinar. A team of health care leaders from Denmark that participated in the webinar subsequently sent staff members to visit Winchester Hospital to learn first-hand from our performance improvement efforts.
Click on the link above to read of Winchester Hospital's remarkable achievements.
Southcoast Health System's well thought-out program to reduce patient "sitters" - the individuals who spend time with patients to ensure that they do not fall and injure themselves - makes sense financially for the system, but has its genesis in improving patient safety and strengthening the caregiving team.The changes go far beyond the two new titles - Patient Care Observer and Therapeutic Assistant. Southcoast, which is the parent of Charlton Memorial Hospital (Fall River), St. Luke's Hospital (New Bedford), and Tobey Hospital (Wareham), instituted a whole new program of re-training, clustering of fall risk patients, more coordinated handoffs between caregivers, plus new equipment, and a new "culture" among the observers and assistants and the other caregivers with which they work.