Joint Commission journal on quality and patient safety / Joint Commission Resources
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Jt Comm J Qual Patient Saf · May 2012
Automated dispensing cabinet alert improves compliance with obtaining blood cultures before antibiotic administration for patients admitted with pneumonia.
A Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) pneumonia quality measures with particular impact on the emergency department (ED) is blood cultures prior to antibiotic administration for patients admitted with pneumonia. A study was conducted to measure the impact of an automated dispensing cabinet (ADC) alert on improving compliance with the quality measure of obtaining blood cultures prior to giving antibiotics for patients admitted with pneumonia and who have blood cultures ordered. ⋯ In this population of patients with pneumonia, a series of questions in an ADC improved compliance with the quality measure regarding the obtaining of blood cultures prior to administering antibiotics to patients in whom blood cultures are requested.
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Jt Comm J Qual Patient Saf · May 2012
Reporting information on emergency department crowding to the hospital board and delivery of time-sensitive care.
Hospital governing boards influence the quality of care that hospitals provide by holding senior leaders and managers accountable. A study was conducted to determine whether reporting data on emergency department (ED) crowding to hospital boards was associated with better performance on a time-sensitive quality measure for patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI): Primary PCI [percutaneous intervention] Within 90 Minutes of Hospital Arrival. ⋯ Reporting data on the incidence of ED boarding to hospital governing boards was associated with better performance for PCI. More research is needed to explore the direction of this relationship, but the results suggest that hospitals should consider reporting data on ED boarding to their boards as a low/no-cost quality improvement activity.
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Jt Comm J Qual Patient Saf · May 2012
How to develop a second victim support program: a toolkit for health care organizations.
A toolkit was developed to help health care organizations implement support programs for clinicians suffering from the emotional impact of errors and adverse events. Based on the best available evidence related to the second victim experience, the toolkit consists of 10 modules, each with a series of specific action steps, references, and exemplars.