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Utilizing PDSA, the hospital's multidisciplinary team utilized evidence based best practices to enhance the patient care experience associated with total knee replacement surgery through improved patient education and improved surgical outcomes, including a reduction in the risk of postoperative…
The heart failure quality improvement team set out to improve scores on heart failure core measures. In fiscal year 2010, the hospital's failure rate was 42 percent, with a high of 63 percent in November 2010. This project focused on improving the health of hospitalized patients by increasing…
After acknowledging that medication errors were on the rise, the facility implemented computerized physician order entry and medication barcoding to assist with medication verification, and initiated the transition to smart pump technology that included safety software. Drug libraries were…
To reduce the time to first dose of antibiotics to directly admitted pediatric oncology patients with febrile neutropenia, an interdisciplinary quality improvement team systematically analyzed admission and treatment processes to identify barriers to care and key tactics for process improvement. A…
Harm/hospital-acquired condition reports were sent to each hospital. In reviewing both campuses, each was in the 'red' on the scorecard for hospital-acquired C. diff. A CQI+ team was sanctioned to reduce hospital-acquired C. diff by half from a high of 11 cases per month to 5.5 cases per month.
The Red Box strategy was created to help reduce cost and health care worker time associated with having to unnecessarily don and doff personal protective equipment (PPE) while still providing quality care. Using evidence-based practices, the hospital's infection prevention team implemented a three…
A hospital study was conducted to evaluate the practicality and effectiveness of UV light as a germicidal disinfectant after the environmental service (EVS) terminally cleaned confirmed C. diff patient rooms at discharge. Various swab collections of room surface areas took place during a control…
In October 2010, Memorial Medical Center implemented an intervention “bundle” designed to reduce onset of C. diff by 15 percent from prior year baseline. The bundle included five elements: (1) contact precautions, (2) hand washing, (3) environmental cleaning, (4) laboratory alerts and (…
Central line-associated bloodstream infections continued to occur in the adult ICU despite the implementation of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement's central line bundle. Compliance with central line bundle was high, yet observations revealed breaks in aseptic technique during skin…
The hospital joined the On the CUSP: Stop BSI collaborative offered by IHA. The focus was on CLABSI reductions starting in the surgical intensive care unit, and then house-wide, including the cardiovascular intensive care unit, using the same evidence based best practices. Building on their 2007…