Public
American Hospital Association content that is available to the public and all website users.
The Hospitals in Pursuit of Excellence guide “Partnering to Improve Quality and Safety: A Framework for Working with Patient and Family Advisors” provides information and best practices for hospital and care system leaders: whom to recruit as advisors, how to prepare patient and family advisors and…
The project began with a focus on CHF readmissions. As the multidisciplinary team saw decreases in those readmissions, the health center realized the positive effect they were having on all-cause readmissions as well. They then shifted their focus to all-cause readmissions. The organization's…
This facility's coronary artery stents per admission rate was consistently higher than the national benchmark. Increased stent use can expose patients to greater risk and drives up costs, while not necessarily improving patient outcomes. Intensive, case-by-case review of outliers by…
Variation and delays in the early mobilization of patients in the ICU can result in an increased length of stay, poorer functional outcomes and an increased cost-per-patient stay. A team was created to develop a consistent process for patient mobilization for physicians and nursing staff to follow…
The hospital recognized an urgent need to improve the current rate of colorectal cancer screening and to identify precancerous lesions at an earlier stage in the normal risk population. In 2011, the hospital developed a CRC screening initiative involving 38 primary care physicians,…
Ascension Health created a business unit called Transformational Development. It is charged with identifying potential changes and innovations to address those challenges. It addresses six platforms: early life interventions; senior care; population-based care and chronic care; transformation in…
The Problem--Emergency departments were at capacity or beyond it, extending wait times. This resulted in a dissatisfied patient population and a patient safety issue, as many patients left before receiving treatment. One literature review study showed that 46 percent of ED patients who left without…