Joint Commission journal on quality and patient safety / Joint Commission Resources
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Jt Comm J Qual Patient Saf · Feb 2015
Rethinking critical care: decreasing sedation, increasing delirium monitoring, and increasing patient mobility.
Sedation management, delirium monitoring, and mobility programs have been addressed in evidence-based critical care guidelines and care bundles, yet implementation in the ICU remains variable. As critically ill patients occupy higher percentages of hospital beds in the United States and beyond, it is increasingly important to determine mechanisms to deliver better care. The Institute for Healthcare Improvement's Rethinking Critical Care (IHI-RCC) program was established to reduce harm of critically ill patients by decreasing sedation, increasing monitoring and management of delirium, and increasing patient mobility. Case studies of a convenience sample of five participating hospitals/health systems chosen in advance of the determination of their clinical outcomes are presented in terms of how they got started and process improvements in sedation management, delirium management, and mobility. ⋯ Changing critical care practices requires an interdisciplinary approach addressing cultural, psychological, and practical issues. The key lessons of the IHI-RCC program are as follows: the importance of testing changes on a small scale, feeding back data regularly and providing sufficient education, and building will through seeing the work in action.
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Jt Comm J Qual Patient Saf · Feb 2015
Journey to top performance: a multipronged quality improvement approach to reducing cardiac surgery mortality.
In 2006, leadership at Long Island Jewish Medical Center (New Hyde Park, New York) noted significantly higher cardiac surgery mortality rates for isolated valve and valve/coronary artery bypass graft procedures compared to the New York State Department of Health's Cardiac Surgery Reporting System statewide average. ⋯ Cardiac surgery mortality rates can be significantly reduced and sustained below comparative norms when the organization is committed to clinical excellence and quality and is involved in continuously assessing organizational performance. The evaluation launched at Long Island Jewish Medical Center led to the redesign of the cardiac surgery program and prompted widespread improvement efforts and cultural change across the entire organization.