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Today, about one out of three children and adolescents ages 2-19 in the United States is overweight. While a child's health is not completely dependent on their school, studies have found that school-based programs can have a significant impact on student health by creating an environment that…
The Community Health Network (CHN) targets the socioeconomic determinants of health that are not typically addressed in a health care system. The program functions in three complementary areas: (1) providing tools and resources to create a healthier environment; (2) connecting members with…
Advance care planning is a critical element of wellness for all adult patients, regardless of diagnosis or health status. Too often, conversations concerning end-of-life care are completed under the stress of a medical crisis or not at all. When advance directives are created, they are often…
The hospital began working on its sepsis initiative in January 2014, after root cause analysis showed an opportunity for improving outcomes for septic patients. The project scope was to increase sepsis awareness, reduce patient harm and promote evidence-based practice. A multidisciplinary team of…
Staff at this community-based rural hospital in northwest Illinois that treats more than 18,000 emergency department (ED) patients annually and has a 13 bed inpatient psychiatric unit voiced safety concerns, leading to the organization's first shared governance project. An interdisciplinary team…
This project explains how a multisite, outpatient breast cancer and lymphedema rehabilitation program expanded into a certified, multidisciplinary oncology rehabilitation service line to meet the needs of the community.
Hospital readmissions for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), heart failure (HF) and pneumonia have negative repercussions for the patient, the health care facility and the community it serves.
Concurrent review of three core measure sets has ensured appropriate and timely patient care. The hospital revised its review process from a postdischarge review and abstraction to a concurrent review and management while the patient is in the facility. Diagnoses outside of the primary diagnosis…
The hospital identified two process improvement opportunities related to medication safety efforts: heparin protocols and capturing correct patient weights. The average time to intervention following automated triggers from the clinical surveillance software was 14 hours in July 2014. In the same…
The problem faced by the health system was the lack of a coordinated approach for the review and approval of order sets, including standing orders and protocols, across the division's four community hospitals. They were not consistently taken through formal review, and there was wide…