Case Studies
The ºÚÁÏÕýÄÜÁ¿ Association produces case studies on its member organizations across a wide range of health-care topics.
Surgery case cancellation rates OSF Center for Health were 10.5 percent over six months. This created lost revenue; incurred unnecessary expense; caused dissatisfaction for surgeons, staff and anesthesia providers; and posed a risk to patients. The goal was to reduce cancellations by 50 percent in…
The goal of this quality improvement project was to reduce the length of hospitalization, to improve patient satisfaction and meet the geometric mean length of stay (GMLOS). At baseline, only 61 percent of patients met GMLOS. The project goal was to track and monitor current length of stay (LOS)…
Inconsistencies in the discharge process provide an opportunity to standardize that process, reduce variability and improve information flow during handoffs. Improving the communication of critical patient information should in turn lead to decreased readmissions. The goal of this project was to…
By using evidence-based medicine and hardwiring concurrent review, HSHS St. Joseph's Hospital Highland has achieved 100 percent compliance with core measures for heart failure, acute myocardial infarction, pneumonia, and surgical care. The hospital completed data analysis on previous…
Readmissions are a burden for patients, families and health care providers. HSHS St. Joseph's Hospita Highland created a multifaceted approach to reduce readmissions by addressing the needs of individual patients, so they would be able to successfully care for themselves at home. Many patients…
Undergoing surgery of any kind can be a stressful experience for patients and their families. The surgical center at HSHS St. John's Hospital found that many patients and families felt overwhelmed and intimidated by what were routine processes for the surgical team. With a new state-of-the-art…
This project involves raising awareness and expanding the palliative care program at HSHS St. John's Hospital and other hospitals within Hospital Sisters Health System. Expanding the program—so each system hospital has its own palliative care program—will improve patient safety and…
The clinic throughput time was viewed as excessive and lacked standardized best practices. A new practice had been established, so many common processes had not implemented, which resulted in confusion among clinic and registration staff and the potential for duplicating work. Additionally, patient…
According to published research data, the majority of cardiac stent patients have no additional risk of complications if they are discharged the same day as their procedure versus the following day. Given resource limitations—both staff related and financial—at health care facilities…
A local urology department partnered with the performance improvement department to identify opportunities to streamline processes and enhance the patient experience. Using Lean Six Sigma process improvement methodologies and several rapid improvement events, the team created standard work for the…