Healthcare Reform: Putting the Puzzle Together
Proactive hospitals need to prepare for the future – today.
Category: Clinical Improvement
Changing Attitudes: The Key to Achieving Hospital Productivity Gains
In today’s hospitals, it’s not uncommon to encounter defensiveness from inpatient unit managers who miss their productivity targets.
Apr 09, 2010 | 3 comments | View Post
Helping Your Board Ensure Patient Safety
Your quality team has studied the new standard changes, updated policies, and conducted tracers to monitor compliance. What else can you do as an executive to help …
Early Detection: Stop Small Problems before they are Big Problems
Bringing minor regulatory problems to light before they have a chance to grow is the most important step toward preventing big problems that could diminish quality and patient safety .
Nov 04, 2009 | 0 comments | View Post
A Different Approach for Infection Control from Sick Employees
Hospitals coming under threat of Immediate Jeopardy for allowing employees with infectious illness to stay at work in the hospital. Amanda Brown suggests there is a safer way to prevent spread of infections that will have a long term ROI.
Jul 15, 2009 | 0 comments | View Post
Resignation Without Notice Leads to Process Discovery
On the Lean Blog, Jesus “Chuy” Ellin, HT PA andPeter P Patterson, MD MBA noted that the histopathology laboratory at their hospital recently had a breakthrough in the lean journey begun in 2007. The monthly defect rate in the order entry process has fallen precipitously from 33.5% to 2.5% over the past five months, after [...]
Jun 30, 2009 | 0 comments | View Post
Case Management Reduces Length of Stay
At one mid-sized community hospital, technological limitations, communication failures and inadequate training of personnel lead to a system in which cases were handled inefficiently. This resulted in a long stays and low levels of reimbursement. Compass Clinical Consulting worked with this hospital to break down communication silos along the case management chain so team members [...]
Jun 30, 2009 | 0 comments | View Post
Trying to confirm what you already believe is a dangerous practice
By Cary Gutbezahl, MD: The issue is the misuse of research findings and extending conclusions beyond the conditions of the research. That this research is publicized is evidence of the failure of our educational system! It’s time to stand up and scream “Foul!”
May 22, 2009 | 0 comments | View Post
Flawed Logic = Flawed Healthcare Reform Policy Decisions
A recent study in the New England Journal of Medicine implies that because 50% of re-admitted patients had no outpatient physician visits their care was sub-optimal and that somehow hospitals are responsible and should be financially punished for high rates of re-admitted patients. This logic is flawed.
The Emergency Room has its own Emergency
You can’t blame the problems in our Emergency Departments on any one part of the system. You can’t say this is the ER’s fault, or the inpatient service department’s fault, or primary care physician’s fault. If we keep pointing fingers and blaming people, we’re not going to change anything. This is a system wide problem. If we reform healthcare without looking at our national problem with Emergency Department care delivery, we will be missing a huge opportunity.
Apr 04, 2009 | 0 comments | View Post
Compass Group Mission
Compass Clinical Consulting understands that hospitals are among the most complex organizations in existence. When clinical processes are not smoothly efficient, the physician, staff and patient experiences suffer – often leading to decreased market share, financial instability, or regulatory compliance issues. For 30 years, Compass Clinical Consulting has worked successfully with executive and clinical leaders [...]
Apr 03, 2009 | 0 comments | View Post
Is Medical Overtreatment the Magic Bullet?
Sharon Begley, senior editor of Newsweek, sees doctors as having long resisted using science to guide their practice, thus leading to a chronic pattern of overtreatment and using more expensive techniques than necessary.
Mar 06, 2009 | 0 comments | View Post
Clinical Improvement Leads to Financial Stability
When the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word healthcare systems in Houston and San Antonio merged to form Irving, TX-based CHRISTUS Health in 1999, the new leadership team faced a host of challenges. The system was plagued by financial losses, discouraging results in clinical quality measures, and low satisfaction rates among its patients and employees. The system introduced a program to generate marked improvements–not only in their day-to-day operations, but also in patient and employee satisfaction
Feb 27, 2009 | 0 comments | View Post
AHA Report: Hospitals in Trouble
Health care is not immune to changes in the economy. In its “Reports on the Economic Crisis: Initial Impact on Hospitals” issued by the American Hospital Association last November, several startling trends were identified: Uncompensated care is increasing at the rate of 8 percent nationwide. Hospital operating margins are declining 1 percent or more on [...]
Feb 15, 2009 | 0 comments | View Post
Morgan Lee: Cincinnati Childrens Hospital Success Story
At just three months old, doctors discovered Morgan Lee had an enlarged heart. During her stay in the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit (CICU), Morgan suffered a stroke and was diagnosed with cerebral palsy. Morgan Lee’s mouth and tongue became weak, leaving her unable to eat food by mouth. Today, thanks to help from speech therapist [...]
Jan 04, 2009 | 0 comments | View Post
Case studies to learn more about ways in which Compass Clinical has worked to create better American hospitals.