Chairperson's File
Blog posts from 2024 AHA Board Chair Joanne M. Conroy, M.D., CEO and president of Dartmouth Health, and past chairs.
The patient population of Heywood Hospital in Gardner, Mass., seemed to lack diversity. But by actively collecting racial, ethnic and religious data, the 134-bed hospital discovered pockets of socioeconomic and minority groups who could benefit from specialized services. Heywood formed a…
To expertly execute a dribble handoff in basketball, communication between teammates is key. How to effectively execute end-of-shift patient handoffs? Again, communication is key. The traditional nursing end-of-shift handoff process at University of Missouri Health Care, Columbia, Mo., involved…
The medical standard for timely angioplasty was 90 minutes door to balloon. The average for Lehigh Valley Health Network was 150 minutes with variation of monthly averages. Meanwhile the average for beginning thrombolytics therapy was much higher than the standard of 30 minutes. In stages over…
Barnes-Jewish Hospital, St. Louis, wanted to transform its organization and in turn, transformed its culture into a continuous improvement culture. While the organization had embraced Lean methodology for years, it found that its project improvements were isolated and not always sustained. A…
Abington (Pa.) Memorial Hospital has used everything from screen saver reminders to notes from the chief of staff in its hand hygiene campaign. The result? An improvement in compliance from 31 percent in late 2007 to 84 percent now for the 665-bed hospital. The campaign started with resident…
Reducing preventable harm by half is a lofty goal for any hospital, let alone a large, integrated system. But leaders at Henry Ford Health System in Detroit say their ambitious No Harm campaign has transformed the system's culture from the board room to the front lines. In 2007, Henry Ford…
When change proves challenging, involving everyone in the process can be key. Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital, Barrington, Ill., encountered challenges while working to streamline lab workflow and redesign the lab's physical layout. The hospital began the project after surveys showed medical…
The Problem
Antimicrobial resistance is a growing problem nationwide, caused, in part, by injudicious use of antibiotics. At Hunterdon Medical Center, some antibiotics were losing their ability to cure infections present in patients coming to the hospital. For example, the effectiveness of the…