" High infection rates can be scrutinized for a common link, or increases in adverse events can be analyzed to improve patient safety and provide better care. Information is easily sorted and compiled to provide various reports that are user-specific.…
Nightingale Community Hospital (NCH) is committed to upholding the core values of safety, accountability, teamwork, and community. In preparation for the upcoming readiness audit, NCH will be launching a corrective action plan in direct response to the recent findings in the tracer patient. Background information on the tracer patient is as follows: 67 year old female postoperative patient recovering from a planned laparoscopic hysterectomy turned open due to complications. Patient developed infection that formed an abscess and was readmitted to the hospital for surgical abscess removal and central line placement for long term IV antibiotics. The tracer methodology was employed when auditors reviewed this patient’s course. Many things were done well and right with this patient and NCH is pleased to know that the majority of items analyzed with this patient proved that NCH was in compliance with regulatory standards; however, there were some troublesome areas that we need to focus on. The primary focus area that we will put our energies into will be the fact that there was not a history and physical completed on the patient within 24 hours of admission, and in fact it was greater than 72 hours before one was completed. The Joint Commission mandates standards that are to be met in order to maintain compliance. Standard PC.01.02.03 states that history and physicals must be documented and placed in the patient’s medical record within 24 hours of admission and prior to procedures involving conscious sedation or anesthesia. History and physicals are also considered in compliance if documented 30 days prior to procedures as long as there are no changes documented or the changes in status are specifically noted. (Joint Commission Update, n.d.)…
Accepting admissions into the observation unit from the emergency department created a situation where the patient health conditions varied considerably. Admissions included orthopedic, medical-surgical, gynecological, and…
The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the computer security for Aircraft Solutions. When discussing computer security, the three main areas aspects of any computer-related system are confidentiality, integrity, and availability. Confidentiality determines the security or privacy of the system. Integrity refers to only the authorized users making changes to parts of the computer system. Availability means if someone has a requirement to get onto the computer they are not impeded in that facet. The main challenge in constructing any secure system is determining…
If you ever had to wait to several weeks or even months to see a doctor or specialist, you would know how anxious the wait can make you feel. You can easily become simply frustrated or even concerned about a possible negative impact on your health. If you are a New York City HMO patient, long waits to be seen or for an appointment has been a problem in the United States Healthcare System. With such long waits, would it affect the type of care a person would receive or would it be too late to provide that care? This timely and effective care is an important factor for the public reporting of quality improvement data. The two reports that are being comparing are Jamaica Hospital and Queens Hospital Center in which they both use the same data source from Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Hospital Quality Initiative.…
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) requires all their participating hospitals to disclose all hospital acquired conditions and would deny reimbursement for cost acquired from such events. The HACs identified by the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services include the following: objects left in patients after surgery, air embolism, blood incompatibility, catheter-associated urinary tract infection, pressure ulcers, surgical site infections, hospital acquired injury due to external causes such as fractures, dislocations, intracranial injury, crushing injury, burns etc (Dalcon, 2010). In an effort to provide and pay for better quality care, CMS is investigating ways to prevent and eliminate the occurrence of never events that contribute to serious and costly errors that happens in the…
NS344 Cole E et ai (2006) Assessment of the patient with acute abdominal pain. Nursing Standard. 20, 39,67-75. Date of acceptance: October 10 2005.…
References: Aiken, L.H., Clarke, S.P., Sloane, D.M., Lake, E.T. & Cheney, T. (2008). Effects of hospital care…
References: Baker, C. (2008 August). Some Surprises On Emergency Room Use. Retrieved August 30, 2008, from www.letstalkhealthcare.org…
Management of pain in the emergency department (ED), is a major issue in most of our health care departments. Planned change in this department is necessary but can be challenging to implement (Mitchell, 2013). A survey was once carried out showing that most people die in emergency department than in car accidents due to pain. There are a lot of barriers in…
1. The relevant costs are those that occur in the future and differ for each feasible alternative. These relevant costs should be compared to the current situation at Baldwin in order to evaluate the decision to join with Hi-Valu:…
work for UT Southwestern Medical Center and we provide Quality Improvement initiatives to help provide safer care for patients undergoing cardiac surgery in the OR, ICU or in our cardiovascular floor. UT Southwestern provides several ways where patients and the general public can communicate to the institution regarding the quality of customer service and how satisfied or dissatisfied they were with the services provided and other factors related to their hospital visit. We frequently conduct patient satisfaction surveys and score them both in the institution level and departmental level. This form of outcomes assessment is extremely important to hospital executives and quality officers in increasing the quality, efficiency and effectiveness at UT Southwestern as well as reducing infections and hospital costs due to Hospital Acquired Infections (HAI’s). Our Patient Satisfaction and Experience Surveys ask patients who underwent surgery or other procedures questions such as: How was the ease of access to services? How were the interpersonal skills of the providers? There are two key surveys UT Southwestern conducts: The first is called the Consumer Assessment of healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS) and the next is called Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAPHS). This is the most reliable and effective way we communicate with our patients regarding how satisfied they were with our services.…
Medicine has changed in the past years in many ways. With the change and inventions of new cures, technology, and less invasive procedures, medicine has become a whole different world. Though there has been many enhancements that increase the productivity and treatment outcomes in medicine, the delivery method and care has changed along with it, and not for always for the best. Hospitals are what people find security and safety from all illness and diseases they have come across, but with the change of the economy and budget cuts, the first thing to cut is patient care and service. When people think of hospitals they think of long lines, waiting for hours for a simple procedure or question, medications that aren’t helpful and no care or relationship with the doctor. Patients get less time with physicians and more time with physician assistants and nurses. Many hospitals and clinics have made it known at the first meeting that after the initial appointment, the remainder of appointments will be either with the nurse practitioner or physician assistant. With less care and relationship from the physician, patients start to wonder why pay high dollar for less service, and that’s where the issue arises.…
Ambulatory care consists of health care services that warranted an overnight stay in the hospital. Today, ambulatory care encompasses an expanding and broad array of services rather than just visits to private physicians’ offices and hospital outpatient clinics. Several factors have influenced the shift from inpatient hospitalization to ambulatory services such as, technological advancements, financial mandates, cost considerations, conveniently located facilities, and the entry of physicians into the business of outpatient services.…
According to issue 4 of Prescriptions for Excellence in Healthcare, Walter H. Ettinger, President of UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester, states that over the next decade, hospitals will need to make significant improvements in clinical performance such as the safety, effectiveness, and efficiency of medical care, in order to satisfy the demands of patients, and insurers (Ettinger, W. H., 2008). Quality problems are reflected today in the wide variation of use in health care services, the misuse, underuse and overuse of others. Improving the quality of health care and reducing medical errors are the priorities for the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ, 2002). In the April 11, 2002, issue of the New England Journal of Medicine,…