Quality & Patient Safety
“Interoperability” has been a technology buzzword for a while now. But, what does it really mean? Simply defined, interoperability is the ability of computer systems to “talk” to one another and easily share information. It is especially critical now as more and more of our…
Trustee Talking Points
Trustee Talking Points
Many health systems are operating venture funds or other formal mechanisms for developing and commercializing innovations.
Their motivations for developing innovations are to improve their own operations and create new…
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…
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
To meet the changing needs of our communities, hospitals are working hard to make sure that every individual receives the highest quality of care. To achieve that goal as our nation becomes increasingly diverse, we must redouble our efforts to identify and eliminate disparities in care.
Hospitals are making greater use of new technologies to improve emergency department throughput. Digital registration kiosks and bedside registration systems streamline the process, allowing patients to be treated more quickly. Electronic patient tracking boards can reduce wait times and improve…
Half of the nation’s primary care physicians say the increased use of quality-of-care metrics to assess provider performance is having a negative impact on patient care, according to a survey report from The Commonwealth Fund and the Kaiser Family Foundation. Twenty-two percent see quality metrics…
Mortality and hospitalization rates and inpatient spending for Medicare patients 65 and older declined between 1999 and 2013. A Journal of the American Medical Association study found that the annual death rate from all causes declined to 4.5 percent from 5.3 percent, and the…
Snapshot A crucial part of population health is keeping patients healthy outside the hospital. But certain patients, due to their surroundings or their illnesses, often bounce back to the emergency department or to an inpatient stay after discharge. To get a handle on their most…
The overuse of antibiotics in both medicine and livestock has been making headlines recently, and patients and community members may be turning to you with questions. The American Hospital Association, in fact, is already addressing the public health and national security threat…