Medical care
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Better hospital nurse staffing, more educated nurses, and improved nurse work environments have been shown to be associated with lower hospital mortality. Little is known about whether and under what conditions each type of investment works better to improve outcomes. ⋯ Although the positive effect of increasing percentages of Bachelors of Science in Nursing Degree nurses is consistent across all hospitals, lowering the patient-to-nurse ratios markedly improves patient outcomes in hospitals with good work environments, slightly improves them in hospitals with average environments, and has no effect in hospitals with poor environments.
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Problems of poor quality and high costs are worse in the workers' compensation system than in the general medical care system, yet relatively little work has been done to improve performance in workers' compensation healthcare. ⋯ Financial incentives, coupled with care management support, can improve outcomes, prevent disability, and reduce costs for patients receiving occupational healthcare. Owing to important disability prevention capacity, workers' compensation healthcare may be especially fertile ground for continued quality improvement innovation.