Journal for healthcare quality : official publication of the National Association for Healthcare Quality
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Pneumonia is the third most frequent admission diagnosis at Macomb Hospital Center. The average length of stay for this diagnosis (DRGs 89 and 90) was 9.07 days. ⋯ Quality of care also improved in two areas: the time elapsed before delivery of antibiotics and availability of X-ray reports. This article reviews the implementation and results of the critical pathway for pneumonia.
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Like many other healthcare organizations today, the authors' facility, a 306-bed acute care community hospital in Michigan, strives to visualize and make a transition from traditional quality assurance to continuous quality improvement. The Juran Trilogy provided the insight that strategic planning, measurement, and continuous improvement must exist side by side. At the authors' facility, this realization resulted in the hospital quality plan, which treats each of these components as part of the foundation for quality. The authors explain this model and the reporting and communication mechanisms that support it.
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Peer review is an essential mechanism for evaluating the judgment and performance of clinical providers. Reasons for conducting physician peer review range from identified quality-of-care concerns to general education. There are a variety of challenges to conducting an effective peer review, including the personal concerns of the peers conducting the reviews. This article reviews the potential uses of physician peer review, its basic methodologies, and challenges to and suggestions for obtaining effective peer review.
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Sixteen hospitals from the Northeastern New York Hospital Council tested the theory that clinical pathways are an essential component of the integrated quality assessment process. Clinical pathways served as a transition to the holistic, process-oriented approach of quality improvement. ⋯ Respect and trust established among the hospitals in the consortium were evidenced by the cooperation and collaboration of the participating hospitals. This regional approach to care resulted in increased patient and staff satisfaction, positive patient outcomes, and a decrease in length of stay.
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This article focuses on hip fractures and their treatment. The common problem of hip fractures is examined demographically and in terms of its impact on healthcare costs. The use of quality assessment and improvement techniques in SNF-based physical therapy clinics is proposed as a tool to improve treatment outcomes.