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Undergoing surgery of any kind can be a stressful experience for patients and their families. The surgical center at HSHS St. John's Hospital found that many patients and families felt overwhelmed and intimidated by what were routine processes for the surgical team. With a new state-of-the-art…
This project involves raising awareness and expanding the palliative care program at HSHS St. John's Hospital and other hospitals within Hospital Sisters Health System. Expanding the program—so each system hospital has its own palliative care program—will improve patient safety and…
The clinic throughput time was viewed as excessive and lacked standardized best practices. A new practice had been established, so many common processes had not implemented, which resulted in confusion among clinic and registration staff and the potential for duplicating work. Additionally, patient…
According to published research data, the majority of cardiac stent patients have no additional risk of complications if they are discharged the same day as their procedure versus the following day. Given resource limitations—both staff related and financial—at health care facilities…
A local urology department partnered with the performance improvement department to identify opportunities to streamline processes and enhance the patient experience. Using Lean Six Sigma process improvement methodologies and several rapid improvement events, the team created standard work for the…
Overutilizing blood transfusions adds significant costs and can increase patient length of stay and morbidity. This project aims to change transfusion practices by introducing evidence-based guidelines into the order entry pathway of the hospital's electronic medical record system and…
The Illinois Health and Hospital Association's quality award submissions are highlighted on HPOE.org yearly. These short case studies show hospitals and health systems working toward the Triple Aim.
The utilization review staff at HSHS St. Elizabeth's Hospital examines medical records for inpatient and outpatient orders and statuses to ensure patient records are accurate. The redesign aims to increase internal reviews and decrease external reviews, which aligns with safe patient care…
As a health organization that serves communities disproportionately affected by asthma, Sinai Health System adopted an innovative community health worker (CHW) home-based intervention model to deliver coordinated, cost-effective and patient-centered education to help adults with asthma breathe and…
Central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSIs) are a major cause of morbidity and mortality. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, an estimated 250,000 cases of CLABSI occur in hospitals in the United States each year. An estimated 80,000 CLABSIs occur in intensive…