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Evidence-based practice supports early goal-directed therapy for patients with sepsis. Improving identification of and intervention methods for septic patients in the emergency department (ED) and inpatient units enhances patient safety, while reducing costs and mortality. By using Lean Six Sigma…
The 2012 New England Compounding Center tragedy and ongoing drug shortages have caused a dramatic increase in internal compounding at many tertiary hospital pharmacies. These increased demands, coupled with intravenous (IV) compounding room space constraints, exposed significant opportunity to…
Studies show lipase to be as sensitive as and more specific than amylase in diagnosing pancreatitis; performing amylase with lipase adds no value over lipase testing alone. Nonetheless, analysis of a tertiary emergency department (with 70,000 visits per year) between January and April 2014 revealed…
The CK-MB Test is a traditional blood test of a cardiac marker used to assist in the diagnosis of life-threatening acute coronary syndrome. Recent evidence shows that CK-MB testing adds no incremental benefit over troponin in such diagnostic assessments, although the two tests are frequently…
This project has decreased cycle time for medication reconciliation at time of admission and for documentation of the home medication list. The organization utilizes enhanced electronic health record functionality and pharmacy students hired as medication reconciliation technicians, who contact…
Surgical site infections (SSI) lead to patient suffering, morbidity and mortality, extended length of stay and avoidable costs of additional care. SSI rates are disproportionately higher among patients following colorectal surgery, occurring in 5 to 45 percent of cases at an average cost of $26,000…
Operational and physician leaders identified an opportunity to decrease the use of off-site telemetry monitors. Evidence indicated that decreasing use would reduce cost, increase the number of available beds and decrease alarm fatigue. The issue was further prioritized by the problems caused when…
The goal was to reduce delay in patient care by decreasing patient wait times for a CT exam from requested time to start time in the emergency department. Process defects were identified as CT exams that a patient was not ready for and point of care testing not being used on patients who required…
Limited provider appointment availability in the clinic was causing delays for patients seeking care, decreased patient satisfaction, increased wait time and lost revenue associated with patients who were unable to adequately schedule appointments. A 10 month review of inbound telephone data…
Turnaround time for immunohistochemistry (IHC) stains in the laboratory of a 500 bed tertiary care, Level I trauma center was 6.4 hours for morning orders and 19.3 hours for afternoon orders, resulting in delayed diagnosis and treatment of patients. Reducing turnaround times would give physicians…