Articles
Delivery System Transformation, Governance Effectiveness, Nurses, Operational Excellence, Care Delivery, Physician Workforce, Quality & Patient Safety, Strategic Planning, Issues & Trends, Workforce
Hospital-acquired conditions drop 17%
Hospitals are making “substantial progress in improving safety,” according to an Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality report that found a 17 percent decline in hospital-acquired conditions from 2010 to 2014. That saved 87,000 lives and nearly $20 billion in health costs. HACs include adverse drug events, catheter-associated urinary tract infections, central line-associated bloodstream infections and pressure ulcers, among others.
Care Delivery, Quality & Patient Safety, Strategic Planning, Issues & Trends
Diabetes rates decline
The number of new cases of diabetes diagnosed in the United States declined significantly from 2009 to 2014 after steadily rising for 25 years, according to data released in December by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The country recorded 1.4 million new cases in 2014, down from 1.7 million in 2008, a decline of about 20 percent. The drop was largest among whites, who had a lower incidence rate overall.
Governance Effectiveness, Nurses, Physician Workforce, Strategic Planning, Issues & Trends, Workforce
OSHA webpage on workplace violence in health care
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has created a Web page featuring strategies and tools to support OSHA’s “Guidelines for Preventing Workplace Violence for Healthcare and Social Service Workers.” Visit www.osha.gov/dsg/hospitals/workplace_violence.html.
Nurses, Care Delivery, Physician Workforce, Strategic Planning, Leveraging Technology, Issues & Trends, Workforce
HHS updates website on radiation emergency medical management
Trustees can spread the word about the redesigned website on radiation emergency medical management produced by the Health & Human Services’ Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response and the National Library of Medicine. The site adds behavioral health resources and material for first responders, senior health care leaders, veterinarians and public information officers. Users also can download most of the information in case the Internet is not available in an emergency, or access it on a smartphone app called Mobile REMM.
Delivery System Transformation, Governance Effectiveness, Legislation and Legislative Advocacy, Operational Excellence, Strategic Planning, Issues & Trends
2016 Rural Health Care Leadership Conference
Rural health care boards and executives are transforming their organizations for a new world of accountable care marked by changing payment models, heightened expectations for physician alignment and greater need for collaboration. The 2016 Rural Health Care Leadership Conference Feb. 7–10 in Phoenix will bring together trustees, executives and other experts to share strategies and resources for accelerating the shift to a more integrated, high-performing and sustainable rural health care system.
Delivery System Transformation, Governance Effectiveness, Nurses, Operational Excellence, Care Delivery, Physician Workforce, Quality & Patient Safety, Strategic Planning, Issues & Trends, Workforce
Survey findings about patient engagement and patient experience
“The Association Between Patient and Family Engagement Practices and Patient Experience” is a slide presentation that covers the findings of a 2013–2014 survey conducted by the Health Research & Educational Trust and Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation. The survey examined patient and family engagement practices and their association with patient experiences.
Governance Effectiveness, Nurses, Care Delivery, Physician Workforce, Quality & Patient Safety, Strategic Planning, Issues & Trends, Workforce
Lancet study shows why preventing antibiotic resistance is urgent
A 30 percent reduction in the effectiveness of antibiotics could increase infections and associated deaths for certain U.S. surgical and chemotherapy patients by 120,000 and 6,300 per year, respectively, finds a study in The Lancet Infectious Diseases. Antibiotic stewardship programs andf improved hospital infection control are critical, researchers say. The American Hospital Association’s Physician Leadership Forum last year released an antibiotic stewardship toolkit.
Delivery System Transformation, Governance Effectiveness, Operational Excellence, Care Delivery, Quality & Patient Safety, Strategic Planning, Leveraging Technology, Issues & Trends
Getting to health cares final destination is a rocky but invigorating ride
Getting there is half the fun, right? Keep that in mind this holiday season, all of you who will be loading the family jalopy with unruly kids, rambunctious pets, more baggage than you even knew you owned and every flashy distraction Silicon Valley has yet to devise. The ride to Grandma’s house can get a little bumpy.
Strategic Planning, Issues & Trends
U.S. birthrate rises
The U.S. birthrate rose 0.6 percent in 2014 to 62.9 per 1,000 women, the first increase since 2007, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Birthrates rose 3 percent for Asian/Pacific Islanders and 1 percent for whites, and fell 9 percent for teens, 3 percent for American Indian/Alaska Natives and 1 percent for Hispanics. The cesarean delivery rate declined 1.5 percent in 2014 to 32.2 percent of all births. Cesareans for African Americans, Hispanics and Asian/Pacific Islanders fell for the first time since 1996, by about 1 percent.
Governance Effectiveness, Nurses, Operational Excellence, Care Delivery, Physician Workforce, Quality & Patient Safety, Strategic Planning, Issues & Trends, Workforce
What Antibiotic-resistant Germs Cause
Health care must become more diverse in its leadership, governance and staff, and it must work hard to eliminate disparities in care. Here’s why:
Changing America:
• Half of all children in the U.S. will be nonwhite by 2020
• The majority of the population will be nonwhite by 2044