Case Studies
The goal was to reduce anesthesia's postoperative evaluation errors to less than 10 percent of all cases using Lean Six Sigma methodologies. Errors included inpatient evaluations that were not signed, dated, timed or completed within 24 hours of surgery end time.
Managing the flow of patient throughput is essential to preventing overcrowding in the emergency department (ED)—reducing the number of patients who leave without treatment and improving the timeliness of patient care and patient safety. Effective management of processes that support patient…
The goal of this project was to standardize protocols for controlling patient pain following total knee replacement procedures. Improved pain control is associated with earlier mobility, reduced length of stay, reduced postsurgical complications such as venous thromboembolism and pulmonary embolism…
The Reducing Readmissions: Making Data Real project decreased acute rehospitalization rates by almost half. This was accomplished by doing more of whatever worked and going back to the basics, educating staff with patient stories shared by patient educators and creating a sense of ownership in the…
This project was based on a multidisciplinary approach that focused on the admission process for every patient more than 18 years old admitted to acute care to ensure that the correct measures were put in place to prevent deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism, based on the Centers for…
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…